For many teens summer provides the opportunity to relax and sleep in, but 17-year-old Jessica Mielke takes a different approach to the break from school.
Jessica, a senior at Free State High School in Lawrence and a member of Congregation Beth Torah, volunteers on Tuesday and Friday mornings at the Jubilee Café. The Jubilee Café provides hot breakfasts free of charge to Lawrence residents at 7 a.m. every Tuesday and Friday. She started volunteering at the café in 2006 as part of her mitzvah project prior to her Bat Mitzvah.
Her mitzvah project was the step that connected Jessica to a community that, she said, she looks forward to working with and serving every summer.
Jessica is one of many teens and projects featured by authors Diane Heiman and Liz Suneby in their book, “The Mitzvah Project Book: Making Mitzvah Part of Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah … and Your Life.” (For more information on “The Mitzvah Project Book,” visit the website online at www.mitzvahprojectbook.com.)
Heiman said she has noticed a trend in the last decade for youth to include a mitzvah project as part of their Bar or Bat Mitzvah. The mitzvah project can be any social action activity that helps others.
Heiman said she and her friend Suneby decided to join forces to create a book that would help students create mitzvah project ideas that fit each student’s personality.
The book includes examples of mitzvah projects from adolescents, such as Jessica, throughout the country.
“What is great about the book is it’s not prescriptive it’s aspirational,” Suneby said.
The book provides ideas for projects that students can use as a springboard to create their own unique mitzvah projects.Heiman said the idea for the book came from Suneby’s love of Mitzvah Day, an initiative where congregants partake in single-day mitzvah projects throughout the country.
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“We both really love Mitzvah Day,” Suneby said. “We just wanted to get more kids excited.”
Heiman said the concept of mitzvah goes beyond one day of service or one community project.
“I saw how volunteering for one day can inspire people to volunteer for more than one day,” Heiman said. “It’s about taking the first step.”
While working at Jubilee Café started out as a mitzvah project for Jessica, it has become a mitzvah lifestyle for her. She continues to serve at Jubilee Café in the summer, when many University of Kansas students are no longer in town. Jessica said she noticed a void of volunteers in the summer and was eager to help fill that need.
“I just do it in the summers and that’s when they really need people,” Jessica said.
Jessica arrives at the café, which is held in the basement of the First United Methodist Church, at 6 a.m. to help prepare the meal. Patrons are served from 7 to 8 a.m. Heiman said Jessica’s ongoing dedication stood out among the submissions for “The Mitzvah Project Book.”
“Her commitment to her charity wasvery mature, very admirable,” Heiman said. “She really made a difference.”
One of the unique things about the Jubilee Café is that, unlike many free meal programs, the café serves its patrons restaurant-style, as opposed to buffet-style, when there are enough volunteers.
The Jubilee Café has a full-service breakfast menu, which includes eggs, biscuits and gravy, hash browns and a variety of pancakes.
Jessica said working at the café gives her the opportunity to have conversations and really connect with the people she serves.
“It’s a really good time,” Jessica said.“You meet a lot of great people.”
Jessica’s family members have also volunteered at the café.
“It has been a wonderful experience for our family,” said Diane Mielke, Jessica’s mother. “Starting out I never would have imagined that she’d be doing this years later.”
Jessica will graduate high school this year, but she said she doesn’t plan to end her service at Jubilee Café.
“I’m hoping to continue doing it through the summers,” she said.
As for “The Mitzvah Project Book,” Jessica recommends the book to anyone looking for a mitzvah project of their own.
“It can definitely get ideas going,” Jessica said. “You should try to tie something to your project that you are passionate about.”