Fashioning a sizeable community donation

To help out her peers that may not be able to afford the clothes they need for special occasions, an eighth grader at the Brandeis School in Lawrence collected apparel and established a teen section in a thrift store.

The National Council for Jewish Women held “Dani’s Trunk Show” at their thrift shop at 342 Central Avenue in Lawrence to unveil the addition of a teen section to their shop last Sunday.

Dani Abitbol, who is making her bat mitzvah, wanted to do a community service project to help her community and got the idea for a trunk show after realizing how many dresses she had in her closet that she had outgrown.

“I was outgrowing a lot of my dresses and so were my friends,” Abitbol said. “I was donating to the thrift shop already and thought it would be nice to donate nice dresses to those who can’t afford to buy them.”

Abitbol’s mother, Melissa, was approached Judy Mintz, the advisor for the National Council of Jewish Women, with an idea for adding a teen section to the shop.

Mintz helped Dani and her mother advertise for the trunk show by making posters they placed around the Five Towns and smaller versions of the poster were put in Dani’s bat mitzvah invitations.

“There are so many kids who have finished the bar and bat mitzvah season and why not donate their nice clothes so other kids can have outfits for proms, sweet sixteens and other special occasions,” Mintz said. “It’s a nice project for 13-year-olds to give to others and appreciate what they have.”

Mintz hoped that the trunk show made more people aware of the shop and to possibly get more donors. “The more merchandise we have in the store, the more sales and the more we can give back to the community,” she said.

For now, Abitbol will continue to provide items to the thrift shop’s teen section and wants to add accessories and shoes. “I want to continue having trunk shows and work with the thrift shop,” Abitbol said. “The trunk show was really successful.”