Community Corner

Wirtshafter Raises Money for Charity Through Pizza Race

Edison student raises money for bar mitzvah project.

Observing this year's Pizza 5K, a sea of over 60 light blue gray t-shirts stood out in the crowd of over 2,500 runners. They were all there for one Westfield student and his cause.

Eli Wirtshafter, an in-coming seventh grader at Edison Intermediate School, organized a team to run in the race to raise money for his bar mitzvah project. Called "Eli's Mitzvah Miles," Withshafter was looking to raise money for the Special Olympics for his project.

Wirtshafter said he wanted to be able to use the project to raise money for others and he had wanted to incorporate a Westfield community event that he enjoyed participating in.

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"I had previously done the pizza run and it was a good experience," he said.

Wirtshafter started recruiting people for his team, who would seek donations for the Special Olympics as a part of the experience. He said his parents, David and Jennifer, assisted with the recruitment process. His mother runs Jeni-Fit, a local fitness company which had clients running in the race.

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Wirtshafter was able to recruit over 60 people to join his team, outfitting each team member in a special shirt in order to have them stand out in the crowd. This year's pizza race was the largest in town history.

Wirtshafter's team was able to raise over $5,000 for the Special Olympics. He said he is happy to have organized the group and to have done something worthwhile for his project.

"I wanted to raise money for people less fortunate than I am," he said.


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