Bag guys are really good guys

HAFTR and Supersol offer reusable bags to raise money for cancer research

Issue of Sept. 5, 2008

Team HAFTR and Supersol are joining forces in an environmentally friendly venture to support the American Cancer Society. Reusable shopping bags are on sale through Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway and will go on sale at the store next week. They bear the motto “Pink Goes Green” Bag guys are really good guys -- a reference to both the pink ribbon representing breast cancer, and saving the environment.

“It’s something that I use in my everyday life and would love to see other people do as well,” said Miriam L. Wallach of Woodmere, co-captain of Team HAFTR, and a Jewish Star columnist, about the reusable bags. “It’s an easy thing to do to help the environment.”

The idea came about last spring and Howie Goldmark, who handles promotions for Team HAFTR, was given the task of finding the right style bag and producing T-shirts and magnets to complement them. Israel Garber, a HAFTR parent and the son of Supersol owner, Laurie Garber, was also “instrumental in ... giving advice on how to handle [the project] and make it successful,” added Wallach.

Supersol was glad to participate.

“I think the cause is very important,” Laurie Garber said. “Breast cancer is something that unfortunately affects everybody and I think everybody should be behind it and support it.”

The bags are the first of their kind in the Five Towns, as they are being sold for charity with the proceeds going directly to the American Cancer Society. Team HAFTR plans to participate for the second time in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk at Jones Beach, scheduled for Oct. 19 on Chol Hamoed Sukkot. Last year, over 450 students, parents, faculty and administrators walked with Team HAFTR and raised over $25,000, the second-highest total in the entire walk, which included 60,000 participants.

The reusable bags are green with pink lettering and will be sold at the HAFTR Back-to-School carnival on Sept. 7 and go on sale at Supersol the next day. They have been paid for completely by Team HAFTR and Supersol. The bags sold at the store will be displayed with a sign stating that all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.