“Avi’s Bar Mitzvah Challenge” lasted for nine months prior to his bar mitzvah date. Son of Leiba and Ken Levine of St. Louis County, Avi’s goal was to raise money and collect food for the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry as well as motivate those that took on his challenge.

With the help of his mother, Avi created a program to help his family and friends get healthier, better themselves and reach their personal goals. They signed up with their pledges, both monetary and canned, and a “before” picture that was kept until the Big Day.

Avi sent monthly quotes of inspiration to the 21 participants who had signed on, hoping to encourage them even more. At the end of the challenge everyone sent in his or her weight loss or what life changes they had made. “We went with the person who lost the most weight and really changed their lifestyle,” said Avi’s mother. In the end, Avi’s Aunt Dena won the challenge and received a trophy.

The Bar Mitzvah Challenge was a huge success. Avi donated over 50 pounds of food and $600 to the Jewish Food Pantry. Donations continue to come in today, some from out of state companies that are matching donations of their employees.

“I am most proud that others I did not know helped me along the way,” said Avi. “I was also proud to see Aunt Dena win and continue to do well in her personal journey to eat well, exercise and lead a healthier life,” he added.

The second mitzvah project for Avi was collecting soda can tabs, which has been his pastime. With the help of friends collecting tabs after events at Scottrade Center, Avi donated more than 5,000 to the Ronald McDonald house.

A student at Parkway Northeast Middle School, Avi said, “I am very proud of the how successful my projects turned out. Presenting to both the Ronald McDonald House and the Jewish Food Pantry made me feel very good. I will continue volunteering for these organizations in the years to come.”

The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Metro St. Louis collects pop tabs instead of entire aluminum cans because it’s more hygienic to store tabs than cans, and collection and storage is easier. After the tabs are collected, the local RMHC Chapter brings the collection to local recycling centers, where they are weighed to determine their value (values can vary significantly).  The recycling center then sends the local RMHC Chapter a check for the total value.

Last year alone, tab tops collected for RMHC resulted in over 34,000 pounds of aluminum for recycling, raising more than $17,000.

A new program of RMHC is Keys to the Heart. RHMC is collecting all metal keys, brass or aluminum, which will be recycled for money. All donations can be dropped off at your local Ronald McDonald House. For more information, please visit their web site at www.rmhcstl.com.