YadLeah.org

362 South Parkway, Clifton, NJ 07014 

Contact: Tzvi Katz, Volunteer Department 973 955 0861 tzvi@yadleah.org

Tommy handed out teal laces to the Colonial Soccer club for teammates to wear the month of September (Get Real With Teal Campaign).

Remi created a beautiful dance with the help of amazing friends. Check the video and pics here!

submitted by Stacey Kesselman, Exceptional Events

Exceptional Events Facebook page

A Dollar Campaign is a charity that was created by two teens, Arielle Joselson and Seri Roth with the mission to find a cure to pediatric cancer.

 

We have a vision of every person donating just one dollar and then together, as a nation, we would be able to find a cure. Meeting as freshman in high school, we instantly became great friends and realized that we share a common goal, to seek the cure to children’s cancer. We then brainstormed ideas as to how we were going to go about making our dream a reality.

 

The concept of “one dollar” inspired us and made us think that if every person in our nation, donated just one dollar, imagine how much money we would raise for pediatric research. So, we came up with A Dollar Campaign.

Our next step in our charity was getting our name out there, so we created a website. With the help of our teachers, and parents, we were able to create a website of our own that is child oriented. We wanted to have our charity be centered around kids, because since we are kids ourselves, we thought that it would be so amazing if we could inspire other children and teenagers to make a difference.

We have had our charity for a year and a half and we could not feel happier to know that we are making a difference in children’s lives. We have many volunteer opportunities for children and adults of any age and we have numerous events throughout the course of the year.

 

If anyone is interested in helping or volunteering for us please email us at: info@adollarcampaign.org.

We will not stop until a cure has been found.

 

Submitted to The Mitzvah Bowl by Arielle & Seri

 The Mitzvah Bowl highly encourages families to consider INCLUSION when it comes time to planning the big simcha.  Too many children, both in the unpopular crowds as well as special needs kids, experience a burst to their self esteem and self-worth when they are explicitly excluded from social events, such as a bar or bat mitzvah.

Outliers are neglected individuals who are typically overlooked when it comes time to being included in the invitee list.

Want to perform a simple meaningful mitzvah? Practice inclusion! By adding just a couple or a few more names to your party list, you can prevent a social disaster for an child who is typically overlooked.

http://www.tribejournal.com/tribe-life/bts/2013/03/room-for-one-more-2/

by Valerie and Cheryl, www.themitzvahbowl.com

10901 Dutton Rd  Philadelphia 19154

Contact: Pat Thomas – Volunteer Coordinator,  sales@ngap.org,  215-331-7918

In the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of photographing many Bar & Bat Mitzvahs and have met some truly amazing families.  I’m not Jewish, so finding out about the Bar and Bat Mitzvah traditions has been a great learning experience.  Recently I discovered that many kids that are celebrating their Bar/Bat Mitzvah also take on a special charitable project.  It turns out that”mitzvah” not only means a commandment of the Jewish law, but it also means a charitable act or worthy deed.

I heard about a VERY worthy deed by 15-year old Jordan Fromm.  I met his family when I photographed his sister, JAMIE’S BAT MITZVAH at the beginning of the year.  His dad recently told me about the charity Jordan formed in 2009, called SHUTOUTS FOR KIDS, when he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah.  So, a shutout, for those who don’t know hockey like myself, is when a goalie keeps the other team from scoring the entire game.  Jordan gets donations based on how many shutouts he gets per season.  To date, Jordan has raised over $30,000 to benefit the ED SNIDER YOUTH FOUNDATION and the MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION.  Truly amazing!

When Jordan’s dad called to ask if I could contribute something to the silent auction at the hockey banquet at Jordan’s school, I said OF COURSE!  So if you are going to the Wissahickon High School & Middle School hockey banquet in a few weeks, be sure to bid on my family session!

If you’d like to help out Jordan’s charity, please check out WWW.SHUTOUTSFORKIDS.ORG!

by:  Linda Morrow, photographer, www.lindamorrow.net

 Take part in a one-of-a-kind initiative in which people from various backgrounds are united to stand together and embrace diversity.

This is an opportunity for both youth and adults to make strides against bigotry and hatred in their communities.
The WALK is kid-friendly and will feature activities to keep everyone entertained!

The registration fee for the WALK is $10 for adults and $5 for youths.

Visit www.walkagainsthate.org, log on and form a team.  Create one big team, or “compete” against friends, relatives, classmates and neighbors as to who can recruit the most WALKers or raise the most money.  As the event comes closer, there were also be lots of volunteer opportunities to help at the Walk too.

We turned to local rabbis for their professional advice to validate what we thought was an appropriate timeframe.  The consensus among the clergy is that a student should initiate their project at least six months prior to their simcha.

Rabbi Cynthia Kravitz of Kesher Israel Congregation, West Chester, PA agrees, “Our students begin their 20 hour Tikkun Olam/Social Action Project in the year prior to their becoming a bar/ bat mitzvah.”

Rabbi Eliot Holin, Kol Ami, Elkins Park, PA sums it up by saying “10 months out is a good starting point, but no less than 6 months out.”  Part of the dialogue at Kol Ami begins 8-10 months prior with a meeting discussing mitzvah project options with their Director of Education.

Every synagogue does have a slightly different timeline, however, this infographic will summarize our findings with the majority of education directors, rabbis and cantors. We highly recommend that you consult with the appropriate contact at your own shul to guide you through the process.

As Rabbi Kravitz remarked, “ We want our students to feel the intensity of the experience in the year leading up to the simcha. It takes on an added meaning.”

Whenever your child begins the project, whether it be six months to a year prior to their big celebration, remember, it is never too early to learn about giving back to the community.  This process doesn’t have to begin or end with their b’nai mitzvah!  Tikkun Olam is a lifetime journey!

by Valerie Franklin & Cheryl Friedenberg, info@themitzvahbowl.com

240 West 98th Street; Suite 12A  New York, New York 10025

Contact: Ori Winitzer, Director, ori@soccerforpeace.com ,  (917)582-5060

Soccer for Peace exists to unite children of war-torn regions through their shared love of sports. Our programming occurs in Israel and consists of soccer camps and after school programs for Arab and Jewish children, always represented in equal number. We aim to work with 10-13 year olds who for practical reasons tend to live within close geographic proximity. The programs themselves consist of three components: Athletic, Educational and Social, all of which have integrity as a core value. Since you cannot control what happens years down the road, all you can control is the quality and sincerity of your effort. We are extremely proud of our programs and believe that by bringing kids together, in a common love, we can break barriers organically and sustainably.

Description of Volunteer Opportunity:  Soccer for Peace is flexible about the nature of the opportunity for a community service project, so long as it is meaningful to the bar/bat mitzvah and material to the organization. Projects typically range from fundraising to holding soccer related events. A roster of possibilities, with the considerations specific to each, can be found on our site:  Soccer for Peace