Got teens? If you do, tell them about J-Serve: Jewish Teens Serving Kansas City set for Sunday, June 2.
The all-day event begins and ends at the Jewish Community Campus and takes place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Teens — incoming ninth- through 12th-graders along with just-graduated seniors — will eat, socialize, help others and play at the Jewish Community Center outdoor pool. The event is free and all Jewish teens and their friends, regardless of affiliation to any of the sponsoring organizations, are welcome to attend.
J-Serve is being coordinated by Amy Ravis Furey, Learning for Life associate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, and Taly Yeyni, program director of Kansas City Council BBYO. It is being convened by Jewish Federation and it’s Learning for Life Program in partnership with Congregations Beth Shalom, Beth Torah and B’nai Jehudah, BBYO, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Student Union, Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance, North American Federation of Temple Youth, Panera and United Synagogue Youth.
Furey and Yeyni explained that J-Serve provides teens with the opportunity to fulfill the Jewish values of gemilut chasadim (acts of loving kindness), tzedakah (just and charitable giving) and tikkun olam (the responsibility to repair the world).
“It’s important for teens to come together to give back to the community that supports them,” Yeyni said.
Furey added, “The community has invested their resources in teens and this is a chance for teens to invest their time and energy in making the community a better place.”
J-Serve is an event that has taken place all over the globe the past couple of months. The June date was chosen locally for a variety of reasons, one being this is a good way to kick-off the summer before teens take off for vacations and summer camps.
“During the school year it’s hard for teens to give up an entire day on Sunday when they have homework and other things pulling at their attention,” Furey said.
Teens will get to choose from six different projects in which they can make a difference in the community.
“The idea of having six projects was to give people the choice of what was interesting to them and what they are passionate about,” Yeyni said. Furey hopes that each teen who registers will get his/her first or second choice.
It was important to the teens on the planning committee, Furey pointed out, that the projects they were involved in were not just one-time events. Therefore each of the six projects has a history with one of the sponsoring organizations. The six projects will benefit or take place at:
The Mitzvah Garden of Greater Kansas City
Mitzvah Meals to benefit Independence Boulevard Christian Church
reStart Inc. an interfaith ministry for homeless persons
Ronald McDonald House, providing a home away from home for parents to remain close to their hospitalized children
SAVE Home, the first AIDS-specific hospice in the state of Missouri
Craft and advocacy project to benefit Operation Breakthrough
By choosing projects with which local Jewish organizations already have a history, these teens could have the possibility of volunteering at the same place in the future, and, as Furey put it, helping them feel “part of a bigger something.”
“Our hope is this is just the beginning of their passion about service and it sparks some ideas of what they do in the future,” added Yeyni, who pointed out participants will earn about five community service hours that day.
The local Jewish community has conducted a J-Serve event before, but not in the past couple of years or to this extent. Organizers of this J-Serve hope 100 teens will attend and it will become a yearly event.
“In the prophetic tradition of Jews hearing the call to work with God, the next generation of Jews is stepping forward to take their place in what we hope will become a long standing tradition in our community,” said B’nai Jehudah’s Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner, who will kick-off the event.
Each project has a teen group leader.
“Our goal is to empower them to feel connected to the organization they are serving, to share that with other teens and to lead the reflection,” Furey said.
Teens will lead short advocacy sessions at each session. All teens will participate in a reflection of the day after returning to the Campus. The swimming party is optional, Furey said, “but it is really a celebration of our hard work so we hope people will join us.”
All the sponsoring organizations, as well as members of the planning committee, are recruiting teens for the event. Teens planning J-Serve are looking forward to it.
“I think it’s really cool when Jewish teens gather for the purpose of bettering the world,” said BBYO Council President Allison Ullman.
Morgan Krakow, secretary of BBYO’s Saadia BBG, added, “I think that J-Serve is going to be really fun and I hope that a lot of teens attend.”
Registration for J-Serve is required. Breakfast will be provided by Panera; a kosher option is available upon request. Each teen needs to bring a sack lunch as no lunch will be provided at the service sites. Each participant will also receive a free T-shirt. Registration is available on the Jewish Federation website, https://jewishkansascity.org/Events/2013-Events/June/JServe-2013/J-Serve-2013-RSVP-and-Service-Project-Selection. For more information contact or call 913-981-8801.
