Jonah Goldberg, a rising senior at Irvington High School, has created a business where he collects and then resells donated sports equipment and jerseys to raise money for local food pantries in Westchester.
Jonah calls his business “Deals for Meals” and he’s been reaching out to the community to get donated sports equipment which he then refurbishes and resells with all of the money going to support local food pantries including the 501(c)3 non-profit WestCOP (Westchester Community Opportunity Program). To date, Jonah has raised approximately $3,500 through the GoFundMe he created. Here is a link to his GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/a51dc501.
Jonah has spent the last six months getting his community involved. In addition to gathering items from family and friends, Jonah ran a “March Madness” drive at his high school that encouraged families to look in their closets and donate outgrown and gently-used equipment and jerseys to amass an inventory. Then, through the generosity of various civic groups and organizations including the Tarrytown Rotary, the Hasting Flea Market and the Tarrytown & Sleepy Hollow Farmers Market, Jonah has been given a space to both sell and also to collect donated equipment at their community events.
As Jonah says, “When I started volunteering at local food pantries in Westchester and in the Bronx, I was struck to see that many parents and their children in our area begin their day hungry. Especially in Westchester, with the high cost of living, it is not uncommon for a family to have to decide between paying for housing and utilities or feeding themselves, let alone their children. I wanted to do something to try to help this situation.”
Over the summer and into the fall, Jonah will continue collecting and selling the equipment and jerseys for the benefit of local food pantries. His goal is to try to raise $5,000 to help fight food insecurity in the area. As Jonah says, “This is a win-win: once loved sports equipment will be given a second chance to bring joy to a child or young adult instead of being thrown out while simultaneously generating funds to help feed people in Westchester. I’m also hoping to raise awareness that there are families in our community, many of whom we might not see, who don’t have access to a nourishing meal for themselves and their children. I’m hoping to change that.”
