The Points of Light Conference on Volunteering and Service is coming up quickly! We’ve introduced you to three of our pre-conference delegates/conference attendees already – now for something a little different.
Meet Rachel Fine. For the last two years, Rachel has served as a Repair the World fellow and education justice team leader in Detroit. Next year, she’s joining Repair’s staff as Teen Engagement Associate. So exciting! Here, she takes a minute to talk about how she got involved with Repair the World, how Repair will be participating in the conference, and what she’s most excited about. Read on…
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Go on, admit it, you love the 4th of July. Maybe you don’t wear an American Flag t-shirt all day or snack on red, white, and blue cupcakes (or maybe you do!). It doesn’t matter. There is just something undeniably great about celebrating the core values of freedom and democracy that make this country so unique. The fireworks help too.
This year, take your July 4th to the next level. Sometime in between your barbecues and parties, and before the sun goes down and the lights begin to pop, spend part of your day serving others. It is a fantastic way to have fun while making a commitment to your community and country.
Volunteer Match has a ton of 4th of July volunteer opportunities – from neighborhood clean ups in California and staffing a health screening in Oregon to serving meals to encouraging people to recycle at a 4th of July celebration in Washington DC.
Check out all the opportunities and find one near you! And let us know in the comments or by tweeting us at @repairtheworld, where are YOU serving this July 4th?
Shavuot is coming! This Saturday marks the beginning of the 2-day holiday that celebrates both the wheat harvest and God sharing the Torah with the Jewish people. Both kinda biggies, dontcha think?
Many folks celebrate Shavuot by eating cheesecake and other delicious dairy foods and spending alllll night (yes, literally) studying Jewish texts. Reading and talking about Jewish texts is an awesome way to commemorate such a momentous day. But we think there’s lots of room on Shavuot for service too – it is a long night, after all. This year, add some do gooding to your Shavuot study-a-thon. Here’s how:
Set up a food donation bin Ask attendees of your study-a-thon to bring non-perishables with them, then donate them after the holiday is over.
Incorporate social justice texts Devote a portion of your evening to studying texts or talking about issues related to the intersection of Jewish life and social justice. You can find a bunch of great ones over at AJWS’ On 1 Foot database.
Invite a guest speaker Ask a representative from a local non-profit you love to come talk about their organization’s work and how people can get involved. It will provide a worthy and inspiring break from all that text-learning.
Make a “lit” table No doubt you’ve got friends and guests coming who work or volunteer with awesome orgs. Set up a table where everyone can drop fliers, cards, and other info so people can learn about one another and hook up to great causes.
Schedule a cheek swab Organize a bone marrow swab at your study-a-thon. You might just help someone save a life! Check out Gift of Life for more info.
Do you have other ideas for how to add do-gooding to Shavuot? Let us know by tweeting @repairtheworld. Learn more about Shavuot and its traditions here.
January is already half over, so chances are, the resolution you made so earnestly at the end of 2014 – to get healthy, eat right, maybe go on a juice cleanse? – have already fallen by the wayside. But there’s one New Year’s resolution you can use. This month, pledge to go on a “cleanse” for the sake of your volunteer diet. Check out the tips below and serve better all year long.
Know who you are serving for.
Before you spend an hour, a day, a month, or a lifetime committing yourself to service, ask yourself, “who am I serving for?” In some cases, it might be to make yourself feel good. Maybe it is in honor of someone you love, or it stems from a deep drive to help others. Perhaps it is a combination of all of these factors. Whatever your reason, knowing the core of what drives you to serve will keep you motivated and ultimately help you serve better.
Try a bunch of different volunteer opportunities.
The more types of volunteer opportunities you try, the more likely you are to find one that uses your talents well and feels satisfying. So branch out and try lots of different service opportunities to see what fits you best.
Get to know an organization.
If you find an organization who’s mission you feel passionate about, get to know them well. Attend their programs, volunteer whenever possible, and get friendly with the staff and other volunteers. The deeper you know an organization, the more likely you are to be able to help in meaningful ways.
Find a service buddy.
There’s nothing like finding a service buddy to keep you committed to your service regimen. Make a goal together for how many days you will serve in the coming month, and hold each other accountable. You’ll have more fun and serve more!
Keep at it!
The more you do anything, the better you get – and that’s definitely true for volunteering. Practice makes perfect, after all!
“What is it America has failed to hear? …It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King’s heroic legacy of advancing civil and human rights in America lives on, even nearly 50 years after his death. But in recent months, whether in Ferguson, Missouri, Staten Island, New York, or countless other cities and towns across the country, there have been too many reminders that the work to ensure justice and freedom for all our country’s citizens is far from complete.
That is why this year, in honor of MLK Day, Repair the World is launching Turn the Tables – an initiative that promotes the principles at the center of Dr. King’s ideology, and works towards the promise of a more just society. The road ahead is long, so we must walk it together.
There are two ways to get involved over MLK Day weekend:
Host a Shabbat Supper
On January 16, turn your table into a forum for conversations about justice. Shabbat has traditionally been a sacred weekly time for Jews to gather with those closest to them. Repair the World invites everyone to use the Shabbat before MLK day as an opportunity to break bread and reflect on racial injustice issues that are on the minds of Americans following the tragic events in Ferguson, Staten Island and elsewhere.
Take Action
MLK Day is a nationally recognized Day of Service. On January 19, join thousands of Americans across the country in making our communities stronger and standing up to the challenges of racial inequality in meaningful and tangible ways. Sign up to make the commitment to make a difference for a cause you care about.
Learn more about Repair the World’s Turn the Tables initiative and get access to tons of resources for MLK Day and beyond.
February is Build a Movement Month at Repair the World – join us all month for posts that are nothing short of world changing.
What does it mean to build real, authentic, and lasting change in a community – all while engaging short-term volunteers in the process? Since 2007, the folks at Tevel b’Tzedek, an NGO that sends Israeli and Jewish volunteers from all over the world to serve in Nepal, have been answering this exact question.
Tevel offers three different volunteer opportunities set in their network of Nepali villages: 1 month cultural exchanges and service trips, 4 month in-depth study and volunteer experiences, and 1-year fellowships focused on agriculture, education, health and media. In their unique approach, they work with an extensive Nepali-based staff and local leaders within the communities to make sure the volunteers tap into part of a larger, slowly-building movement, and can make meaningful change during their time in Nepal.
Repair the World spoke with recent volunteer, Matthew Kessler (MK), and Tevel Nepali staff member, Aatamram Neupane (AN), to find out how Tevel’s unique approach to service work plays out in the real world. Like what you read and ready for an adventure? Apply to volunteer with Tevel b’Tzedek today!
Here at Repair the World November is Gratitude Month – a month dedicated to giving thanks for everything we are grateful for. (It’s almost Thanksgiving after all!) It is also the first month of Repair the World’s Community Fellowship program.
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The high holidays are nearly here! In just a few days (starting the evening of September 4), Rosh Hashanah – aka the Jewish New Year – kicks off of the high holiday season. A little more than a week later we come to Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
The 10 days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, often called the “days of awe,” are a joyful time filled with family and celebration. They are also a very solemn and important time when Jewish people turn inward and reflect upon their lives, relationships, and spirituality. In doing so, they aim to return to the best versions of themselves, and set good intentions for the coming year.
The high holiday season also offers an amazing opportunity to make a commitment to service and helping others. So in honor of the 10 Days of Awe, Repair the World is bringing you 10 ways to serve during – and after – the high holiday season. To amp up the high holiday spirit even further, each service opportunity is linked to a symbol of either Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.
Learn more about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur’s significance, traditions, and connections to service, and have a shana tova / happy new year!
APPLES
Tradition: There is a custom of eating apples on Rosh Hashanah. Their sweetness and round shape represent our hopes for a sweet and full New Year.
How to serve: Help the farmers who grow those apples – and all the produce we eat! Shop at the farmer’s market, find where to get local food near you via Local Harvest, and check out our partner organizations, Jewish Farm School, Adamah, and Urban Adamah.
HONEY
Tradition: Those delicious apples get dipped in honey, which represents even more sweetness.
How to serve: Support the pollinators! Sponsor a honeybee hive through The Honeybee Conservancy.
SHOFAR
Tradition: The shofar, a sacred instrument made out of a ram’s horn, is blown throughout the high holidays to punctuate the services, focus our thoughts and prayers, and call people to justice and action.
How to serve: Volunteer for campaigns and organizations that work to “sound a call for justice” in their own way – check out the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, Bend the Arc, and Jews United for Justice.
PRAYER BOOK
Tradition: Throughout Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we read from a special prayer book called the machzor.
How to serve: Books and reading are important for everyone! Volunteer at your local Reach Out and Read chapter to support early childhood literacy.
SYNAGOGUE
Tradition: Many people attend spiritual prayer services during the high holidays – it’s kind of like Superbowl Sunday for synagogues!
How to serve: If you belong to or attend a synagogue, check out their event calendar online. Chances are, there are lots of ways to plug in and help out. And read this awesome story in Tablet about how a bar mitzvah boy focused his mitzvah project on saving a synagogue in Selma, Alabama.
POMEGRANATES
Tradition: Some communities have a custom of eating pomegranates on the second night of Rosh Hashanah. The bountiful seeds inside represent our wishes for abundant joy in the coming year. Some people also say that a pomegranate has 613 seeds, which represent the 613 commandments in the Torah.
How to serve: Think about ways that you could bring “abundant joy” to someone you love. Do one of them during the Days of Awe, and watch their face light up.
TASHLICH
Tradition: On Rosh Hashanah, there is a custom of symbolically casting off one’s sins, by throwing bits of bread into a natural body of water.
How to serve: Help to ensure that all people have access to clean water. Support the work of organizations like Charity Water and take action by writing a letter to Congress in support of the Water for the World Act.
FASTING
Tradition: There is a tradition of fasting on Yom Kippur as a way of putting aside bodily needs for the day and focusing instead on reflection and prayer.
How to serve: Make a commitment to ensure that people have access to the food they need to survive. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, contribute to the work at the Food Bank for New York City, or a local food bank near you, or make a donation to Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
FORGIVENESS
Tradition: On Yom Kippur we ask forgiveness of others and of God for any wrong doings from the previous year. We also are asked to forgive – an act that can be even more difficult!
How to serve: Write a list of people in your life you would like to ask forgiveness from. Call them, email them, or meet them in person and tell them how you feel. You might be surprised by how good you feel after.
FAMILY
Tradition: Both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur offer opportunities for people to gather together and spend time with family and friends.
How to serve: Support families by supporting women and children in developing countries. Check out the Half the Sky Movement to find out how you can make a difference.
As Repair the World gears up to launch our Community Fellowship program (learn more and apply!), we got to thinking about what it means to really dedicate one’s life to changing the world. Below, here are our top 10 reasons do just that – one for each month of the fellowship!
1. You can put your passions to work. Got an issue you care about deeply? There is no better way to express your support, then by working towards moving that issue forward.
2. You get to “be the change.” Everyone has heard the famous quote attributed to Gandhi. This is one way to really live it.
3. You will work with amazing teammates. Social change does not occur or exist in a vacuum – it requires the teamwork with other likeminded people. These people will be your colleagues, partners in crime (the good kind), and friends.
4. Inspiring others is part of the job description. Do you remember the person who opened your eyes to service and helping others – who brought about your a-ha moment? You’ll get to be that for other people.
5. The question “what am I doing with my life?” will become irrelevant. Good, meaningful jobs come and go – even in the realm of world-changing work. But when you dedicate your life to service, you will wake up every day knowing your purpose.
6. Social change conferences are the BEST! Every year there are hundreds of conferences all over the globe that bring together smart, inspiring people to discuss important issues. Here are some of our favorites: Mashable’s Social Good Summit, Clinton Global Initiative University, The Feast, and SXSW’s Interactive Festival.
7. You will be so cutting edge. Without fail, people doing world changing work are on the cutting edge of their fields, helping to set the world conversation about important topics.
8. You get a secret cape. Okay, maybe you don’t actually get a cape – but chances are, now and again, you’ll feel just a little bit like a superhero.
9. The learning never stops. No matter what field you care most about – be it education, the environment, or ending hunger – it is bound to change and evolve. You’ll be there for every step along the way.
10. Everyone likes to hear the words: thank you. When you help others for a living, you are bound to hear a lot of “thank yous.” But our guess is, you’ll end up feeling a lot of gratitude yourself!
Are you ready for an adventure – and to dedicate the next 10 months of your life to engaging in meaningful service? Find out more and apply for our 10-month fellowship program.
