When Ilyssa Stark and Brian Zalma, two fifth grade students at Millstone River School and Congregation Beth Chaim, learned that the average age of a homeless person in the United States is seven years-old, they went into action. In preparation for their B’nai Mitzvah in 2008, students are required to perform a community service. Ilyssa and Brian chose to support HomeFront, an organization in Mercer County that provides training, shelter, and case management to homeless families.##M:[more]##
Last summer, when Ilyssa was contemplating her community service project, a friend suggested that she start a drive to collect complimentary hotel toiletries and use the hotel samples to create gift bags for seniors or other persons in need. This past fall Ilyssa and Brian worked on creating donation stations, collecting toiletries, and arranging gift bags.
Her mother, Shari Stark, who works for the PharmaNet Development Group in Carnegie Center, received permission to set up collection bins at her office. Given that a good number of PharmaNet staff travel regularly, the bins filled up quickly. Her father, Michael Stark, works at Custodial Trust, also in Carnegie Center. Her brother, Andrew, almost 14, is an eighth grade student at Community Middle School; and her brother, Scott, 8, is in third grade at Wicoff School.
Volunteerism seem to run in the family, which moved to Plainsboro in 1988. “We help out at work, we restock the Plainsboro food pantry, and we donate clothing and furniture,” says her mother. “They inspire it at Beth Chaim and try to instill it in our kids. It’s a lifelong journey.”
Ilyssa and Brian also contacted other companies in hopes of securing even more donations. Among them was Guest Supply, in Monmouth Junction, which shipped Ilyssa several boxes of soaps and shoe polish.
Brian is the son of Michele and Marc Zalma. The family has lived in Plainsboro for 13 years. His father, who works for a Fortune 500 corporation in the area, was also able to collect a wide variety of personal care products from co-workers. His mother works at Vatamerica in Princeton. His sister, Erica, 15, is a sophomore at High School North. Brian plays football with the WWP Wildcats and is a Cub Scout in Troop 759.
To date, Ilyssa and Brian have packaged more than 100 toiletry bags for HomeFront. As long as toiletry donations continue to flow from PharmaNet and various other organizations, Ilyssa and Brian will continue with what they have started. Since they would also like to send donations to WomenSpace and Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, they plan to send letters to more local companies in hopes of soliciting even more donations.
In addition to this project for HomeFront, Ilyssa also volunteered in December to wrap gifts at Barnes and Noble in support of the HomeFront charity. She plays for travel soccer team, Montgomery Lightning, a team that made it to the semi-finals in the New Jersey State Cup. “She has solicited her soccer team members to set up a soccer game to play with kids at Homefront,” says her mother. “A lot of good is coming out of this.”
“There are so many ways to help out at HomeFront,” says Shari Stark. For more information on HomeFront and other ways to help families in distress, visit www.homefrontnj.org, www.trentonsoupkitchen.org, and www.womanspace.org.
