Zander Peno-Bubie takes day out of his weekends to assist others together with his stands to gather donatoins for the Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries. Picture by Aaron Rubin/The Courier
Zander Peno-Bubie has probably the most easy private mission assertion for supporting these round him. He can sum it up in a single sentence.
“I like serving to folks which might be in want,” he says.
For the previous two years, Zander has taken day out of his weekends to arrange stands to simply accept donations for The Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantries (SSKP). He started working alongside his older sister in 2015 after she had been working her personal stand through the summers since she was six-and-a-half years previous. Zander began working his personal stand three years later. He says he will get the philanthropic bug from his household as a complete.
“I noticed how she helped folks get higher and donated all the cash to homeless folks and helped them get meals. My dad and mom assist lots of people, too,” says Zander.
When he did issues on his personal, Zander initially took after his sister in buying the identical objects she had for her stand, corresponding to jellies, canned items, and diapers. Desirous to do his personal factor, he made a stand for the vacations, when many individuals wanted a heat meal, objects to maintain them sustained by way of the chilly months forward, and probably the most scrumptious treats of all.
“I used to be promoting baked items, like pumpkin bread, cookies, brownies, all that stuff,” he says. “I felt it was completely different as a result of it was the vacations and never in the midst of the summer time. I offered drinks, too. We made potholders, too.”
Zander additionally offered painted rocks with easy motivational messages to his consumers.
“There was one which mentioned, ‘Kindness,’ and, ‘Be joyful,’ and a North Pole signal that mentioned ‘Welcome.’”
Final 12 months, he ran the stand for as much as six weeks, seeking to get extra donations for the folks he needed to assist.
“I by no means maintain any of it,” he says. All the donations go towards SSKP.
Apart from meals and humanities and crafts, Zander additionally assembles baggage filled with toiletries, partially as a result of they’re objects the soup kitchen could need assistance to afford for these it serves. The baggage embrace toothpaste, toothbrushes, laundry detergent, and deodorant, taking journeys to a number of shops together with his household to get the mandatory private care supplies. Final 12 months, he put collectively 30 baggage of males’s and girls’s grooming objects.
“We go to Walmart, Goal, and BJ’s to purchase deodorant, cleaning soap, and issues they want. Not simply meals, however issues they should bathe,” he mentioned.
Since beginning up his stand, Zander has acquired a constructive reception from the donating public. He says he sees himself persevering with to assist his group sooner or later.
“They’re actually happy with it and joyful that some persons are serving to folks in want,” he mentioned. “It makes me really feel, like a very good individual, serving to.”
Whereas conserving lively together with his donation work, Zander retains lively with athletics corresponding to fishing, basketball, and baseball. Within the sixth grade at Deep River Elementary, he performs for his faculty groups.
“I do journey for baseball and basketball. My favourite workforce in baseball is the [New York] Mets, and in basketball, I just like the Golden State Warriors,” he mentioned. “The Mets, my grandfather actually likes them, and I began loving them after I was 4. I began watching them after I was 4.”
Zander may be very within the Warriors’ famous person roster of gamers and is “very drawn to these groups,” together with the Los Angeles Lakers, who’ve one of the best gamers on the earth.
In school, he’s most all for studying and math. He’s very lively in these topics, as properly, past the classroom.
“I’m an enormous math individual. I’m in two golf equipment for math. After which I’ve superior studying that I used to be chosen for, similar with math. I like faculty,” Zander says.
Whereas sports activities maintain him bodily lively, math helps to sharpen his thoughts.
“I get pleasure from how your mind has to work for it. It retains your mind lively; it makes you assume,” he mentioned. “It form of sparks me. I at all times need to be taught extra about it. I began studying pre-calculus in class as a result of I need to continue to learn math and maintain going.”
