Taylor Allderdice Students Selling Tree Of Life Shirts To Benefit Jewish Federation Of Pittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Students and teachers at Taylor Allderdice High School are giving back to the community after the tragic shooting that killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

Like many in Squirrel Hill, the shooting hit very close to home for those at the high school.

"I was there last weekend for a Bar Mitzvah. I was there a lot in middle school. I know a lot of people that go to that congregation, so that was really difficult," Ari Gilboa, a junior at Taylor Allderdice, said.

The students have designed and produced a t-shirt to help heal and unite the community. Using the traditional Pittsburgh black-and-gold colors, the t-shirt features an image of the tree of life, which is a popular symbol in Judaism, above the Pittsburgh skyline and the words "Pittsburgh Strong."

Gilboa says his friend added a Hebrew phrase meaning "community" inside the skyline. Underneath the words "Pittsburgh Strong" is another phrase in Hebrew, which Gilboa says means "We're strong now" and "We'll overcome this."

"Their mothers have gone to Allderdice, their aunts and uncles have gone to Allderdice, so this is something good to give back," visual communications teacher Carl Baumgart said.

Baumgart says the t-shirts are selling fast for $8 apiece.

"We are extremely overwhelmed. We've sold about over 400 of them already, and they are going to benefit the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh's Victims of Terror Fund," Baumgart said.

Principal James McCoy believes the shirts will help the healing process.

"It's a trying week, but things like this, when you see students wanting to help out and find any way to turn things into a positive, you want to listen to those ideas and run with them," he said.

"The world's a community and we can come together and overcome this," Gilboa said.

The t-shirts are currently being printed and sold at Taylor Allderdice High School. Baumgart says shirts will be available to the public for $10 starting Nov. 12. The shirts can be purchased in person at Taylor Allderdice High School.