“Chesed” means loving kindness in Hebrew — and loving kindness is just what the 8th-grade students in the Chesed Club of Bi-Cultural Day School in Stamford engaged in when they collected 115 gifts for the kids at Stamford Hospital. Members of the club then hauled the gifts over to the hospital’s pediatric unit, where they filled to overflowing the pediatric unit’s David’s Treasure Chest toy closet.

The gifts, noted Bi-Cultural Head of School Jackie Herman, “open a world of wonder and hope for each little boy or girl who picks a toy from the shelf. It’s almost impossible to fathom the impact a gesture like this has on their lives.” As for Bi-Cultural 8th-graders, she said, “This was an incredibly meaningful experience — one that will forever resonate in their hearts and minds.”

The Chesed Club 8th-graders weren’t the only mitzvah-minded students to think of others this Chanukah — students throughout the school donated money to purchase 20 gifts that were on the wish-lists of children living at Ohel, a foster home for children whose families are in crisis.

CAP: Bi-Cultural 8th-graders Shira Haron (left) and Mira Rosovsky, members of the school’s Chesed Club, carried into Stamford Hospital one of the boxes filled with gifts that they placed in the hospital’s David’s Treasure Chest toy closet.