Teen Spirit
by Dori Gerber
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The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”
These aspirational words by President Barack Obama are quite relevant, especially in these challenging days of the global pandemic. But, even in the darkest days of COVID-19, there have been triumphs casting much-needed light.
Maddie and Max Weiss are seniors at Winter Park High School, who are excelling in the school’s International Baccalaureate program. When COVID-19 prevented the twins’ weekly visits with their grandmother, Max and Maddie initiated a program called the Kinneret Gift Project (KGP). Created for the residents of the Kinneret Apartments, a senior-living community in downtown Orlando, the project was aimed at helping seniors like their grandmother who were deeply affected by the pandemic.
Through the KGP, Maddie and Max have provided goodie bags filled with candy, fuzzy socks, hand sanitizers, lotion, and other special treats as well as handwritten notes from members of the community that have been regularly delivered to the apartments. The deliveries helped brighten residents’ spirits during Thanksgiving and the holiday season and continue today.
As graduates of Jewish Academy of Orlando and b’nai mitzvahs of Congregation Ohev Shalom, the twins feel connected to their Jewish identity and values through the concept of tikkun olam, or repairing the world.
“Tikkun olam was one of the main motivations for this project,” Maddie explains. “As of now, the world has become very gray, filled with tragedy and loss. We wanted to create a project that represented community and joy. A way for people to connect with each other in a positive light.”
The greater Jewish community is essential to the KGP’s success. Generous donors have helped fund and fill the goodie bags and have created the handwritten notes. Prior to each delivery, Maddie and Max reach out to the local community through videos posted on social media that include important information like deadlines and needed items. They also share a link to a Google form, where those interested in participating can sign up and make a donation of $5 or more.
That same Google form is used to collect the personal messages from pen pals in the community, which the twins transcribe into cards that are added to the gift bags they purchased with the donations.“Seeing the pictures that Sharon sends us of the residents receiving their gifts has been the greatest reward,” says Max.
Hoping to spread more light and joy to the residents, the teens planned on two more rounds of their Kinneret Gift Project, one for Valentine’s Day and one for Passover. After that, the twins will be preparing for graduation and college, so they are hoping someone else will take over the initiative.
Coordinating the project has brought a lot of joy, though they admit working so closely together has caused a few friendly sibling squabbles. But it has provided a way for them to make a difference together – they are self-described built-in best friends – during a difficult time. And, they have some advice to offer other teens who have similar aspirations of providing help and hope.
“Find something that inspires you, and passion and joy will come naturally,” Maddie says.
“When you see a problem that irks you,” adds Max, “it becomes clear how to go about finding a solution.”