Blog

One spring morning during Religious School, while high school student Aaron Switzer was serving as a Madrich (teacher’s assistant), his class took a walk to TI’s Mitzvah Garden to learn about nature – teva. As he looked over the garden, he realized how rough it looked after the long and frigid winter. He felt a calling to act, and thus, the garden became his special tikkun olam project to earn an Eagle Scout rank. Aaron and a few of his friends had helped with the garden in the past; mostly just a bit of weeding. But this time, it needed some extra hands and lots of love. Aaron recruited others from Eagle Scouts to join him. The group picked and plucked as many weeds as possible, took down and replaced the fencing surrounding each garden box, and created a visible pathway to navigate the garden using mulch and concrete pavers. Aaron loved his volunteer experience, and feels that anyone who may be interested in volunteering should “go for it!”

“BY VOLUNTEERING TO TAKE ON THIS PROJECT, I FELT MORE CONNECTED WITH THE TI COMMUNITY. I HOPE THAT THE GARDEN WILL BE A BETTER PLACE TO GROW PRODUCE FOR THE HARVEY KORNBLUM JEWISH FOOD PANTRY, AS WELL AS CREATE A NICE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY.”
-Aaron Switzer