Teen Recycles 10,000+ Bottles For Charity
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Janna Zilkha, 15, of Dix Hills, recycled more than 10,000 bottles through a program organized with The Chai Center Noskin Hebrew School students, and was able to donate $500 to The Friendship Circle.
A Dix Hills teenager collected and recycled more than 10,000 plastic bottles throughout this past school year, and has donated proceeds from the collection to a local charity.
Fifteen-year-old Janna Zilkha led a program at The Chai Center Noskin Hebrew School in Dix Hills that challenged kindergarteners through seventh graders to bring in as many bottles as they could from September through May.
Zilkha came weekly to pick up the bottles, and by the end of the year she had collected more than 10,000 bottles. She recently presented a $500 check to Ariella’s NY Friendship Circle of Suffolk County, an organization based out of The Chai Center that unites teen volunteers and children with special needs in a wide range of social and educational innovative programs and activities for hours of fun and friendship. Zilkha’s donation was also matched by anonymous donor.
Funds raised by Zilkha helped to support Friendship Circle programs such as Teen Scene, Zumba, Puppy Fun, Bowling Buddies, hip hop classes and more.
Zilkha, who has supported The Friendship Circle since her Bat Mitzvah in 2013, and raised over $800 since then, said that when she first “started this recycling program four years ago, I had no idea that it would get this big.
“It’s amazing how our community has come together and gone out of their way to donate their recycling to the Chai Center’s Friendship Circle. I am so grateful for the community’s support, and look forward to even more recycling in the coming school year.”
Friendship Circle Director Musia Laufer added, “We are so thankful for Janna’s efforts… We depend on the generosity of others to fund our programs, and we are in awe of how Janna, a teen herself, has been able to raise these funds to help us continue our efforts on behalf of special needs children.”
