TORONTO — Five hundred Toronto area teens will participate in a day of community service and improvement projects as they take part in J-Serve, the Global Day of Jewish Youth Service, on April 6.
J-Serve is a worldwide tikkun olam program through which over ten thousand Jewish teens from across North America, Europe and Israel participate in service projects all on the same day in communities around the world
J-Serve is the Jewish service component of Youth Service America’s annual Global Youth Service Day and also coincides with the seventh annual ChangeTheWorld Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge. The province’s three-week challenge kicks off April 6 in partnership with Volunteer Canada’s National Volunteer Week, Canada’s largest celebration of volunteers, volunteerism, and civic participation.
The J-Serve Toronto event, hosted by BBYO in partnership with Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, is one of over a hundred simultaneous international events aimed at encouraging community building and connections across religious and societal lines.
Participants can choose from more than a dozen project options such as preparing food that will be distributed to the homeless, assembling education kits for families in need, readying a rooftop garden for spring vegetable planting or hosting a Passover celebration for young adults with physical and cognitive challenges.
This year marks the fifth year that Jewish youth from across the Toronto area will have the opportunity to participate in the international initiative, thanks to funding by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
“J-Serve is weaving a tapestry of stories into a moving narrative: thousands of teens united in answering the call to greatness by volunteering to repair their communities and our world. All of us who share a devotion and commitment to the Jewish future should be moved and inspired,” said Lynn Schusterman, Co-Chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
Those interested in participating in J-Serve Toronto can find additional information on the J-Serve Toronto website at www.jserve.ca or by contacting Kevin Goodman, J-Serve Toronto Coordinator, at [email protected] or (416) 635-2883 extension 4461.