When Anita Kriensky began volunteering with Boca Helping Hands (BHH) in early 2016, she quickly shed her preconceptions of what food insecurity looks like.
“Even if they drive up in a Mercedes, that still means that they can have food insecurity,” says Anita, who, alongside her husband, Bob, have sponsored four of the nonprofit’s Thanksgiving Box Brigade programs that provide holiday turkey dinners with all the fixings to families in need. This year will mark their fifth as sponsors of the program.
An ethos of “To whom much is given, much is required” is at the core of the Krienskys’ philanthropy. “We’ve been blessed, truly blessed,” says Bob. “We understand where we are and what we have, and so we seek to help others.”
The Krienskys have been supporting BHH almost since they first landed in Boca in 2015, both retiring from lucrative careers in Los Angeles; Bob in real estate and Anita in luxury interior design. “We looked at 90 houses in Florida, and we ended up here in Boca,” says Bob. “It’s a great community to be part of, and we fell in love with it.”
Anita first became aware of Boca Helping Hands through a neighbor while looking at ways to get more involved in the community. She began distributing hot meals to the nonprofit’s clients, and Bob soon became involved, volunteering his time at the warehouse. The couple were inspired by the dedication of BHH’s volunteers and the tangible difference they witnessed as a result of their efforts.
“A lot of times you give, you write a check, and you don’t really know how it’s changing people’s lives; you don’t see it,” says Bob. But with Boca Helping Hands, Anita says, “you see the people, you meet the people that it’s benefiting, and it’s in your community, which makes the community stronger.”
The Krienskys have the rare designation as BHH platinum donors for contributing more than $100,000 to the organization. These funds have benefited the nonprofit’s numerous critical services, including job training, food programs, health care assistance, mentorship and much more. The goal of BHH’s myriad programs—which service more than 35,000 clients per year—is for its beneficiaries to become self-sufficient. This mission resonates deeply with Bob, who has been supporting himself since the age of 15.
As a sophomore in high school, Bob was forced to leave home and make his own way with no family support. “I had a definite difference of opinion with my dad, who people had called the toughest guy they had ever met,” says Bob. “My dad refused to fund anything and refused to allow my mother to fund anything. … I had no real resources at the time.”
Bob took up several jobs to support himself as he finished high school and college before completing his education and leaving his home in Boston for Los Angeles after the historic blizzard of 1978. “I said, ‘I’ll never hold a snow shovel again,’” says Bob. But it was another vow, taken years before, that still informs his philanthropic spirit today.
At his bar mitzvah, a 13-year-old Bob stood at the pulpit of his synagogue and made a speech of what he hoped would define the rest of his life. “I recall saying that I want to leave this Earth a little bit better than when I came into it,” recalls Bob. “And that’s a tough job right there, but I’m going to try …
“Everyone doing a little bit, I think, will make a big difference, so we’re trying to do our bit to try and make this a better place.”
To learn more about Boca Helping Hands or to donate to its Thanksgiving Box Brigade program, click here.
This story is from the November/December 2025 issue of Boca magazine. For more like this, click here to subscribe to the magazine.
