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The Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley held its annual Magnificent Monday Dec. 15, where the students created and decorated life-size cutouts representing people in the Jewish community whose lives have been touched by the Jewish federation.

Students of the East Brunswick school are involved in tzedakah projects on an ongoing basis, but on this day each year, they study the activities and support areas of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County's work.

Each grade was assigned an organization to research and to design a cutout for it. The topics were: kindergarten: Israel Dental Clinic; 1st grade: support for programs at local day schools like SSDS; 2nd grade: free Shabbat meals at Rutgers Hillel; 3rd grade: hot, kosher meals for elderly Jews in Krakow, Poland; 4th grade: care for children at-risk in a Jerusalem shelter; 5th grade: children's library in Safed, Israel; 6th grade: care for teens at-risk, providing counseling and suicide prevention programs; 7th grade: providing food and safe shelter to Jews displaced by the war in Georgia; and 8th grade: kosher Meals-on-Wheels.

Laura Safran, the federation's director of planning and allocations, and Audrey Napchen, the director of women's philanthropy, were in attendance.

"This is our future of the Jewish people," Napchen said. "One of our jobs is to fix things. All of you are doing a part of tikkun olam."

Safran said she wishes more people had an opportunity to see what the kids at Schechter are doing.

"We're leading with initiative, and its something that's important to them every year," Safran said. "And I think they help the adults step up."

The children display the knowledge and responsibility of tzedakah and what the federation does, she said.

"They make it real, they make it tangible; I think if you ask some adults what the federation does, they wouldn't be able to articulate it," Safran said. "It was very uplifting to come here - it was almost like we wish we could come here every morning."

Two 5th graders, Mya, of East Brunswick and Hannah, of Edison said they were donating money for a children's library in Safed. They created a poster with a child and books surrounding him.

"We put some of our favorite books on the poster," Mya said.

The girls said they have done Magnificent Monday every year, each with its own theme, but the money always goes to a good cause. However, this was the first year where the students had to create lifelike cutouts, the girls said.

"It was harder because we had to make a person - we usually don't make a person," Hannah said.

"We had to outline a classmate of ours," Mya said.

They said they researched and created the model in two days, but learned a great deal as well.

"It felt good, because it was like we were doing a good deed and helping people read, and reading is one of the most important things in life to do," Hannah said.

"Then they have money to buy the books," Mya added.

Hannah said she feels that by donating to a children's library they are really helping the children's lives.

"We're helping somebody have a piece of life, we're giving them something that they can do," Hannah said. "It felt good."

Linda Banish, who teaches history and language arts to the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at Schechter, said she has organized Magnificent Monday for 20 years.

"We were working with the students about talking about the different kinds of ways that they can be involved in the community," Banish said. "And federation has its Super Sunday every year, and I felt if they learned what federation did it, would be helpful for them to understand why there's such a push for their parents to be asked for money."

The message of Magnificent Monday is to understand the federation's work and to realize that even children can help, Banish said. Each year she uses a different theme and a different project, she said.

Representatives from the federation began coming to Magnificent Monday about eight to 10 years ago, she said.

"Sometimes we've had as many as five people from federation," Banish said. "I know that there were a couple of people who said to me they were disappointed they couldn't come, because this is a part of the job that they love, because they see the fruit of their hands."

Researching and donating money on Magnificent Monday has given the students a sense of responsibility and maturity, she said.

"They have learned that it's a serious thing, there are serious problems in the world, and we talk a lot about tikkun olam," she said.

Eli Cehelyk, an 8th grader from East Brunswick who is the president of the student council, said Magnificent Monday is important because as Jews it is our responsibility to give back.

"Since we're Jewish, we have to give back to people in our community and outside of our community," he said.

He said since he started at Schechter in 2nd grade, Magnificent Monday has remained the same; however, he now understands why the school does it.

"As I got older, I understood what it really stands for," Cehelyk said. "How we really have to give back and help others in need."