The Tikvot team (l-r): Yarden Harel, Nicole Feder and Ari Zwiren. Tikvot aids victims of terror in Israel through sports therapy.
West Coast NCSY recently completed the second year of its highly successful leadership program, the Teen Philanthropy Movement.
The Teen Philanthropy Movement takes teens and teaches them about the Jewish views on charity over a three-month period. Teens who participate in the program are required to learn about the Jewish sources on charity, then locate and volunteer at charities. Students are divided up into groups and charged with delivering a presentation about their chosen non-profit to a group of business and civic leaders.
On April 11, Shalhevet High School of California hosted the final round of the contest. Four judges heard presentations from the students and decided which two organizations would split the $10,000 prize.
West Coast Regional Director Solly Hess with the winning team for School on Wheels (l-r): Anne Schneider, David Malka, and School on Wheels regional coordinator Stefanie Aguilar. School on Wheels provides homeless children with tutors in California.
“We’re teaching kids to be more sympathetic and strategic in the way they care about others and how they approach the concept of charity,” explained Solly Hess, regional director of West Coast NCSY.
The winning groups represented School on Wheels, an organization devoted to providing educational opportunities to homeless children in California, and Tikvot, an Israeli program that aids victims of terror, including Israeli soldiers, through sports therapy.
“The Teen Philanthropy Movement is a great opportunity to find out about how people are giving back to the community and making a difference,” explained Sinead Chilton, team leader for School on Wheels. “The $5,000 goes directly to our programs to provide educational opportunities to homeless children — kindergarten through twelfth grade.”
Anne Schneider, a senior at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, who represented School on Wheels said she felt the project made her grow as a person.
West Coast NCSY Regional Director Solly Hess, center, with the four judges (l-r): Joel Levine, Frank Lee, Leslie Kessler and Susan Baum.
“I feel like I have made a difference in the world and it is an amazing feeling,” she said. “I have learned the real meaning of tzedakah.”
To read about last year’s contest, click here.