A Summer of Service for Jewish Teens

Sunday, August 9th, 2009 | posted by

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AJSS Teens chose a Summer of Service

The summer is often viewed as a time to indulge our kids with trips and treats, late nights and lazy mornings. After all, young people need to take a break from their school routines and relax a little. Yet as they grow into young adulthood, the summer recess is also a perfect time to expose our children to others’ lives, perhaps less fortunate than their own. We can show them how easily we can create a small change, activate our vision of Tikkun Olam, in just a couple of weeks.

At the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, 7th-8th graders have an opportunity to focus on others at Camp Maasim Tovim volunteering camp. At Camp Yad B’Yad in the Washington DC JCC high school students have been taking part in a variety of service projects in the DC-area including shelter repair, hunger action, environmental clean-up, neighborhood beautification and work with at-risk children.

For the more adventurous, the American Jewish Society for Service runs “Summer of Service” sleepaway service camps that give young Jewish teens the opportunity to put their Jewish values into action in US communities they would normally never visit. This year the AJSS expanded to three trips – to Tucson, Arizona, Amarillo, Texas and Kansas City, Kansas, working with organizations such as Heartland Habitat for Humanity.

Here’s an interview with some of the Kansas group:

And in Tucson, TV station KOLD News, featured the AJSS group, ” Covered in drywall and paint, 15 students sweated out the Arizona heat to roll up their sleeves with veterans living at Coming Home. The teens spent countless hours building and remodeling. They also added their artistic touch on painted murals and fences.”

These teens are laying their own foundations of giving. From a 2-week camp across state, perhaps they will graduate to a full year of volunteering in Israel after high school or college with Kol Israel Haverim’s National Service Year Leadership or Kishorit’s Hagshama Volunteer Program.