BROOKLYN, NY [CHI] — Much talk is heard about today's teens, corrupted more than ever by messages of how to dress, eat, think, socialize, shop, recreate or otherwise indulge in endless decadence to gross excess.
But should one have been in attendance at the recent annual convention of the Volunteer Leadership Club, quite the opposite picture emerges.
When Young Idealism Leads
BROOKLYN, NY [CHI] — Much talk is heard about today’s teens, corrupted more than ever by messages of how to dress, eat, think, socialize, shop, recreate or otherwise indulge in endless decadence to gross excess.
But should one have been in attendance at the recent annual convention of the Volunteer Leadership Club, quite the opposite picture emerges.
Over 50 teen girls from all over the world—galvanized, grounded, and mature beyond their years—converged on West Bloomfield, Michigan last month for a weekend of panels instead of pizza parties and motor-skills therapy training instead of mall crawling.
They are the teen leaders of the two-dozen-plus local chapters of the Friendship Circle, the fast-growing global Jewish volunteer organization for children with special needs and their families. And their interests, unlike too many of their peers, include changing lives.
“There are so many great opportunities and ideas that we can do” said Dena Berlin, 16, elected President of the volunteer leadership club in 08. The international convention, held in March of 2008, drew participants from across the US and Canada for three days of bonding and brainstorming.
When it was over, the young leaders had elected a President, Vice President and Board of Directors out of their own ranks, going home with not just inspiration but plenty of practical grassroots initiatives to enhance and expand the Friendship Circle.
Among these self-started projects is the Volunteer Leadership Club’s first official e-newsletter, written entirely by volunteer leaders for fellow volunteers.
“The newsletter is a lifeline for our volunteers,” says Mrs. Rochel Groner, who directs the volunteer leadership club as a project of the Friendship Circle’s Brooklyn-based international office. “For volunteers going to children’s homes every week, the tips for our Friends @ Home program is a big thing.”
“Many of the volunteers come to us, either for their pre-Bar or Bat Mitzvah community volunteer work, or community service, or school social service project—but once they start, something magic happens. It becomes a passion of theirs, and they go beyond the requirements,” says Rabbi Zalmy Grossbaum, director of the Friendship Circle’s 850-strong North Jersey volunteer chapter, on the often-sudden development of maturity and leadership among young teen volunteers. “I hear it from their parents all the time: ‘I’m not sure what you’re doing for the kids, but you’re doing something to my son (or daughter.)’ You might say something divine happens.”
The Friendship Circle was founded in West Bloomfield, Michigan in 1994 by Rabbi Levi and Bassie Shemtov as a pilot project to help those in the Jewish community combating loneliness in their lives. Today the program consists of a flagship community/therapy center and volunteer program in West Bloomfield, and 75 volunteer-program branches across the U.S. and around the world.
For more about the volunteer network visit FCVolunteer.com
