At Steinbrenner High School, sophomore Jana Astra is looking for volunteers to help give her organization a boost. Just About Giving, otherwise known as J.A.G., is a nonprofit organization created by Astra to give back to homeless people in need all over the country. While this organization starts to expand its audience, Astra stays true to her morals and the reason behind creating J.A.G. in the first place.
Starting at an early age, Astra would travel to downtown Tampa every morning with her mom and sisters to drop them off at their school. Every day, they began noticing the large homeless population in the city. This started a family tradition of putting together bags with healthy snacks, hygiene items, and a small note for the less fortunate. They would donate these bags to other organizations in the Tampa Bay area and give them out to the affected people.
After years of continuing this tradition, Astra decided to make it into an organization and give it a real name. When she turned 13 and started planning for her Bat Mitzvah, Astra was asked to create a project. This opened the opportunity for her to create Just About Giving to not only continue a family tradition but also expand the project to a wider audience of people.
Astra recently created an Instagram page, justaboutgiving, for her organization, advertising it and asking for volunteers to help. “In the future, I hope to get more people involved and let others see firsthand how important it is to give back as I have learned so much by doing this over the years,” says Astra. She seeks to publicize her organization to gain more people willing to give a helping hand to this great cause.
Just About Giving has donated, in total, around 1,600 bags to organizations around the Bay area. Some of these organizations include Tampa Transplant House, Family House (Pittsburgh), and the Ronald McDonald House. Astra has been giving back to her community for years and needs help to continue giving to a larger community of people in need.
Astra uses her recently made Instagram account to make this information, and any new information, available to the public. She welcomes support in any form, hoping to expand her focus of volunteering to more than just her close friends and family.
”I follow Just About Giving on Instagram, and I would love to know more about what it stands for,” sophomore Scarlett Ferrer says. As the organization grows, the students at Steinbrenner High School are eager to see what Astra has in store next.
Just About Giving has donated, in total, around 1,600 bags to organizations around the Bay area. Some of these organizations include Tampa Transplant House, Family House (Pittsburgh), and the Ronald McDonald House. Astra has been giving back to her community for years and needs help to continue giving to a larger community of people in need.
