One Minute With Sasha Lipton
May 9, 2008

Name: Sasha Lipton

Occupation: Student at Governor Livingston High School Berkeley Heights.

Address: Mountainside

Age: 17

Family: Mother, Brona Lipton, who works as a Spanish teacher at Evergreen Elementary School of Scotch Plains- Fanwood Public Schools. Father Shelley Lipton, who is the Chief Marketing Officer for http//www.grandparents.com. Grandmother Arlene Lipton lives in Monroe Township.

Community activities: The founder of SecondChanceToys.org, a rescue and recycle program that collects discarded plastic toys and provides them to needy children to be enjoyed and treasured. Second Chance started when Sasha saw many plastic toys in good condition left out to be collected during pickup week and began collecting them. Then she cleaned them up and searched for groups who would be interested in receiving the plastic toys. In the first year, 600 toys were collected and given to groups like ARC and Women's Centers with 1-800-Got-Junk? Over the year SecondChanceToys.org grew, receiving 6,347 donations this year.

Hobbies: Horseback riding and shopping.

Self-portrait: "I'm honest, trustworthy, and outgoing."

Motto: "Waste not, want not."

Greatest accomplishment: "Getting into my first choice college, Northwestern University, and Second Chance Toys organization."

Bad habits: "I shop too much."

Favorite TV: "The Gossip Girls; it's based on a book."

Favorite Food: "Pasta — any kind."

Best childhood memory: "Traveling with my parents to the Galopagos Islands for a week when I was in the 3rd grade. We were in a small boat with others but I was the only kid. We traveled to a different island every day and I liked  getting close to the animals."

Last book I read: "‘Baby Proof' by Emily Giffin, a novel about a woman who didn't want to have children who married a man who said he didn't want children but when he did problems arose."

The biggest asset in the local Jewish communities: "People are always willing to help out others."

The biggest problem in the local Jewish communities: "Not a lot are affiliated with Jewish institutions."

If I had more time I would... "Travel. I want to go on Safari in Africa to see the animals and how they live."