Anne Frank was 13 years old when she began writing her diary. She was a teenager when her words were silenced. And yet, more than 80 years later, it is young people, students not much older than Anne herself, who continue to carry her legacy forward with remarkable generosity and moral courage.
We are deeply moved to share two recent acts of giving that remind us why this work matters.
From Stage to Action: Emmaus High School, Emmaus, Pennsylvania
This past fall, the theater department at Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, brought The Diary of Anne Frank to life on stage. But the production was far more than a performance. In preparation for the play, students researched Anne’s life and diary entries, met with local Holocaust survivor Michele Willner Levy to hear her family’s firsthand story, and worked with a Jewish cultural consultant and dramaturg, Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr, to deepen their historical and emotional understanding of the text.
Throughout the run of the play, students collected donations, raising $2,200 for the Anne Frank Center USA, turning their artistic work into tangible support for education, remembrance, and the fight against hatred and antisemitism. Those proceeds have now made their way to us, and we are profoundly grateful. As one cast member reflected during the process, the production was a reminder that we must actively choose to remember.
A Class Vote for Tzedakah: Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim, Deerfield, Illinois
Every Sunday morning, the 350 K-6th grade students at the Jewish Learning Center (JLC) at Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim (BJBE) in Deerfield, Illinois participate in a tzedakah collection. Each month, the sixth grade class takes on the special responsibility of choosing where the entire school’s tzedakah will go.
This February, one 6th grade student took the initiative to share the mission of the Anne Frank Center USA with his classmates. After hearing about the organization’s work, his peers cast their votes and chose to support our cause.
The result was a generous $200 gift, representing the collective kindness of 350 Jewish young people and their families.
The connection to this cause is a personal one: the student’s mother, Sydney Caine Freeman, serves on our Board of Directors. We are incredibly proud of this young advocate for stepping up to bring Anne’s story to his peers, and we are deeply grateful to the entire class for choosing to support our mission.
Tzedakah is often translated as “charity,” but its Hebrew root speaks to something deeper: justice, righteousness, and moral obligation. These students didn’t just donate, they exercised that moral obligation with intention and purpose.
The Legacy Lives On
Anne wrote in her diary that she believed, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. The students at Emmaus High School and the Jewish Learning Center at BJBE are proof that her belief was not misplaced. Their philanthropy directly supports our education programs, our outreach, and our ongoing mission to ensure Anne’s story reaches every generation.
To the students, teachers, theater directors, and communities behind these gifts: thank you. Your generosity demonstrates a powerful lesson: meaningful change does not depend on age or the size of a donation. It begins with awareness, empathy, and the willingness to act.
