A Day of Smiles.
A Lesson in Satisfaction.
A giant balloon bridge soared over the sneaker display and dozens of volunteers wearing crisp purple aprons … Fitters, runners and store staff waited expectantly. To their left, girls’ coats in every shade of pink and purple sparkled, and to the right, rack after rack of coats for boys in dignified colors arranged by size.
Straight ahead stood displays of shirts and pants in every style and color, and a sea of socks. Just beyond the door, volunteer personal shoppers put giant purple totes over their wrists and hugged clipboards to their chests.
The time had come. Tovah’s Back 2 School Store was about to begin.
A Magical Shopping Experience
Throughout the day on Sunday, August 2, hundreds of children walked through the door and began a magical, unique shopping experience. More than just filling those totes with clothes, a coat, a hat and gloves, sneakers, a week’s worth of socks and underwear, personal care products, two books and a backpack filled with school supplies, the Back 2 School Store creates an environment where children get to choose, without influence from adults or concern for cost. The goal has always been to empower these children, infuse them with confidence and pride, and hope those positive feelings go home with them as they tackle a new school year.
The Back 2 School Store happens every summer thanks to the contributions of so many. Our all-volunteer Steering Committee, led this year by 2026 co-chairs Leslie Dorman and Debbie Kirchen, began work in the fall planning all the details – where and when the Store takes
place, what to buy, which agencies to partner with to identify children to attend. Spring comes, boxes arrive, and we start building our fantastic roster of more than 300 volunteers. All of a sudden, it’s summer and time for set up, training and then go-time for the Store!
The main shopping area was packed for hours with kids trying on coats, digging through baskets looking for the perfect hat, and crowded around the sneakers waiting to have their foot measured and the contents one of the boxes on the wall to be just the right fit. The journey continued down the hall where hygiene kits, books, backpacks sat on tables, waiting to be scooped up into the totes. Then the grand finale – a whole room stocked with underwear completed the journey.
Volunteers often say the best part of the day is to see the children’s reactions to the abundance of brand-new gear. It is often the shy smile when a coat fits just right, a boisterous hop in new kicks or a dozen pirouettes with a new backpack on their shoulders that create the memories and make the day so special.
Resources for Parents and Caregivers
While the children shopped, parents and caregivers visited the Gaelen Family Resource Center, which again this year featured more than a dozen agencies offering information on everything from how to vote in New Jersey, how to access state and county resources on childcare, family justice, and child and maternal health, Tovah’s own advocacy and Center for Women programs and fresh produce!
Many attendees took advantage of the vision, blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol screenings provided by health care professionals. This year, every family who attended the Back 2 School Store also received a grocery gift card and menstrual products from Tovah. An ice cream treat awaited the children as they exited the Store, courtesy of a Tovah member and her family.
A Team Effort - Thank You Doesn't Say Enough
The Back 2 School Store does not happen without the contributions, hard work and resources of so many. We are eternally grateful to our long list of sponsors – local businesses, foundations and individuals – who enable Tovah to stage the Store and ensure each child receives brand-new items at no cost to them.
Thank you to our hosts at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston. For the second consecutive year, the hospitality and support from leadership and staff made a long week of work feel much easier.
To all our volunteers who give their time on a mid-summer weekend, thank you. Whether you were a first-time volunteer or have been to all 18 editions, your presence and participation make a difference.
Tovah is a place where people connect across generations, and that is never more apparent than at the Back 2 School Store. The halls on Sunday were filled with mothers and daughters (and granddaughters), mothers and sons, husbands and wives and entire families and friend groups coming together to do good.
A Lesson in Satisfaction
It’s a daunting task to summarize such an important tradition and complex event in just a few words. Amazing, exhausting and incredible come to mind. Perhaps it is best to look at our surroundings and to the week’s Torah portion which reads: “You shall eat, and you shall be satisfied, and bless the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 8:10), a verse that is supposedly the basis for all the blessings in the Jewish religion.
When we experience satisfaction and abundance, gratitude and action naturally follow. The Back 2 School Store stands as a real and lasting example of that lesson. Thank you for your generosity in creating that feeling for each other and for the hundreds of children and their families from our community – our neighbors – to take with them as they go forward into a new school year.
