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Seneca Valley students reach out to the Tree of Life synagogue

Tree of Life Program Director Alex Speck met with the students to receive the quilts they made Wednesday at the Rodef Shalom Congregation.

PITTSBURGH — This holiday season, Seneca Valley School District students kept in mind those affected by the Tree of Life synagogue shooting and offered them the gift of comfort.

Seneca Valley’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Club decided to hand-make quilts to show their support for the synagogue, which was the scene of an Oct. 27 shooting in which 11 people died and seven more were injured.

Tree of Life’s program director, Alex Speck, met with the students who were presenting and donating their projects on Wednesday at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh.

Speck thanked the students for their thoughts and efforts and said both were appreciated greatly.

When the students showed their quilts to Rodef Shalom receptionist JoAnn Ruffing, she began to cry happy tears.

“(It) is absolutely beautiful,” she told the students while she wiped at her eyes. “Oh, thank you.”

Read more about this project in Friday’s Butler Eagle.

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