Give Back Club Help Others

By Jackie Schatell

Last year, during the peak of the pandemic, Sue Seto of Berkeley Heights, started the Give Back Club with her son Jayden, 12, and other children, as a way of teaching them about being mindful and helping others. To date, they have performed many wonderful acts of kindness. Their first endeavor was to make 1,000 PB and J and/or ham sandwiches for a local food pantry. After that, Sue says, “the kids were hooked and were already looking for their next endeavor.”

Since then, the Give Back Club has led and participated in many events to contribute to the community. The group ran a successful food drive that required three truck loads to deliver to St Joseph’s. Other activities included making 800 customized Christmas cards and delivering them in decorated shoeboxes to over 10 senior homes. They also ran a coat drive for the homeless in New York. The Club’s latest assignment was to help the Columbia Middle School PTO collect over 3,000 pairs of shoes for the people of Haiti and Honduras.

Sue, who is known to check in on anyone she hears needs some cheering up, says the activities are “fun and are something we all enjoy.” She adds that Jayden “enjoys the work” and that it “has become part of his life for the last year and a half.”