At ELI, volunteers shredded years of old files that were no longer needed, due either to their age or to computerization. Seeing the shredded records of children she had worked with in the past, ELI staff person Tova Fishman became very emotional. She felt like remnants of the pain, hard work and growth of ELI’s children were being thoughtlessly discarded. So Tova brought home bags of shredded files, turning their contents into a beautiful paper mache bird. Much like her work at ELI, she transformed the raw materials of childrens’ lives into a brighter future.