14-Year-Old Girl Creating Hundreds Of Homeless Care Packages

WOODLAND HILLS, CA — A year ago Rachael Rosenberg came across an unhoused man taking a nap on a bench on a cold night. Suddenly, sprinklers came on and woke the man up.

"He was shivering," recalled Rosenberg, 14, who then reached into a "Bundle of Kindness" she was carrying around, and provided him with a pair of warm socks. His face lit up.

Rosenberg, 14, has provided over 100 of these "bundles" to homeless populations around Los Angeles for over a year now. The bundles, which are more like giant sacks, contain everything an unhoused person needs to survive, from socks to soap to snacks to clothing to blankets to sleeping mats to umbrellas to vouchers for food, drinks, and haircuts.

Rosenberg, of Woodland Hills, has been working with the unhoused her whole life. She volunteered at the Sova Valley Food Pantry in Van Nuys and through interfaith events at her synagogue. She and her siblings even made meals to give to unhoused people she sees on the street.

But when it came time for Rosenberg to complete a community service project ahead of her bat mitzvah in Sept. 2019, she wanted to do more.

"I was thinking of something I could do to personalize it," she said. "I couldn't house anyone, and I didn't want to just give a small bag with a granola bar."

Instead, Rosenberg decided to put together bags of everything she could think of. For over a year, she pounded the pavement and went door-to-door all over the Valley, collecting donations from individuals and big companies like Starbucks, Whole Foods, Vons, Coffee Bean, RiteAid, Petsmart, and Marriott. She also reached out to friends and created an Amazon Wish List of materials needed. Before her bat mitzvah, giant boxes of donations filled her parents' garage.

Eventually in June 2019, 64 people gathered at Rosenberg's synagogue, Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills, to assemble the 100 Bundles of Kindness. After all was bundled, Rosenberg distributed the bundles similar to how she had collected them: by traversing the Valley and personally handing them out.

She went to VA buildings, food pantries mobile shower units, and people she came across on the street, while accompanied by an adult. Wherever Rosenberg goes, she tries to have a few bundles on hand in case she sees someone. So far, she's shared bundles in Burbank, Woodland Hills, Calabasas, Tarzana, Studio City, Van Nuys, Winnetka, Chatsworth, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood.

Rosenberg says she's been able to see up close and personal the devastation caused by ballooning rates of homelessness.

"I've encountered younger kids - there were siblings: I think one was eight and the other was was a baby," she said. "Some people cry - it's hard to put into words."

Now, Rosenberg is at it again, and is on a quest to assemble 500 Bundles of Kindness, which now include face masks, which she says she needs 250 more of. Rosenberg says she expects to be ready to distribute her newest round of Bundles by early 2021.

She's also become something of a local celebrity. She has been featured on Yahoo News, The Acorn, and ABC News, which named her as a "Cool Kid of the Week" in July 2019.

Readers can help Rosenberg create her new round of bundles by donating to her Amazon Wish Listor donating new or lightly-used items. Rosenberg says she is in particular need of umbrellas, scarves, blankets, gloves, t-shirts, flashlights, and face masks.

For more information, visit the Bundles of Kindness website.