I am sitting in the Kurland Lounge at the Marin Jewish Community Center and our speaker, Sagie, is telling us about what it’s like to see young male teenagers gathered around sex shops on the dark streets of Tel Aviv in the middle of the night. “You know how they make a living,” he says, “and you know it involves sex and drugs, but you really just don’t want to think about it.”  Many of these boys are homeless, he explains, because their Orthodox families would not tolerate their homosexuality.

Sagie, who represents a nonprofit based in Israel, takes a breath and admits he is a little nervous, and everyone in the room takes a moment to smile and acknowledge the courage it takes to speak to a group of strangers about something so difficult. Some speakers get extra nervous about presenting to high school students, although I know you won’t find a friendlier or more caring group of people than the members of the Marin/San Francisco Jewish Teen Foundation, who are fundraising for programs that serve at-risk teens in the Bay Area and Israel and will soon be facing some very tough choices about exactly where to allocate their funds.

Marin/SF Board member Elizabeth Stern works with fellow board members to untangle from a “human knot.” (Photo by Ze'ev Klapow)

It’s right before Passover and later in the meeting I will say a few words about the holiday and how we all will be taking time at out Seder tables to remember people in the world who are still not free, like the young people we are learning about this year who are on the streets in San Francisco or Tel Aviv.

Recently, one of the teen leaders in our program, Ryan, spoke at our Parent Night. “You can look at a list of twenty Jewish values in Sunday school,” he said, “and it’s just that, a list of great Jewish values.  But doing this work has actually made those values a physical, tangible experience.”

This is one of those times that I think I know exactly what Ryan is talking about.

Sagie goes on to tell us how the kids come rolling out of the sex shops and alleys when they see the van his nonprofit sends out.  Inside the van, they hang out on the couch, talk to the staff, get something to eat or drink.  After a while, he explains, you can begin to see them relax, even act like teenage boys again, joking around, but then, eventually, they go back out to survive on the streets.

Sagie also tells us about the particular project we’re considering funding: a classy restaurant in downtown Tel Aviv that is largely operated by at-risk teens.  Staffing this restaurant offers these young adults a place to experience and express responsibility, commitment, and community.

As we are wrapping up, Hallie, another teen leader in our program, comes back to the youth on the street.  “Can they participate in the restaurant program?” she asks. “What happens to them?”

Sagie says that the boys at the sex shops are not called “at-risk,” but rather “high-risk” or “fatal-risk.”  Most of them are not ready for the restaurant project.  “You just can’t put a chef’s knife in the hands of a drug addict,” he explains. It will be up to those kids to take steps that bring them to the nonprofit’s center where they can benefit from other programs, such as working with a social worker, dealing with substance abuse issues, or earning a high school diploma.

We all know that many of the kids on the street do not make it.

Sara Nesson, Director of Marin/SF Jewish Teen Foundation

On the second day of Passover, Jews are commanded to begin counting the Omer, a ritual that was once about preparing sacrifices of grain to offer in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.  These days, many people turn to the Kabbalistic practice of using each of the seven weeks before the holiday of Shavuot (the revelation of Torah) to reflect on qualities such as love, power, compassion, wisdom, and discernment–emanations of God that we can also develop in ourselves.  It’s not enough to be free, the ancient mystics seem to be saying, but what are you going to do with that freedom?

In the next weeks, my students will take the final steps in the journey of their foundation year—working to bring qualities like love, compassion and wisdom to their final grant allocations and to serve others from a place of humility and respect.  They will not meet many of the teens that will benefit from the grants of our foundation, but those lives will be linked to theirs by an invisible partnership about freedom and possibility.

Today as I walked in the early morning rain by my favorite lake, I sang a simple Modah Ani, (“I give thanks”), and then went on to take in the many brilliant shades of green moss and new leaves all around, the carpet of damp Redwood needles beneath my feet, the newts plodding steadily back into the forest after laying their eggs by the shore.  I love those newts, and in a way, I think we are a little bit like them.  We must keep plodding along, shaking off one season to welcome another, remembering our hard-won freedoms, but never stopping there.

By Hillel Zand, South Peninsula Jewish Teen Foundation Board Member
This post originally appeared on Hillel’s blog, American Jewish Teen.

As a board member of the South Peninsula Jewish Teen Foundation, I am currently at the halfway point in a yearlong process to make a difference. Sounds tough, right? The SPJTF creates a mission statement at the beginning of the year, researches nonprofits that match the mission statement, fundraise, and finally allocate money to deserving organizations at the end of the year. This past Sunday, we took a little field trip to one of Shelter Network’s locations, First Step for Families, which assists homeless families on getting back on their feet by providing a safe shelter for parents and their children, as well as vocational services and therapy.

It wasn’t my first time volunteering for Shelter Network, but this time was, by far, the most moving. After we had served dinner to residents and played with some of the kids, a couple of families came and shared their stories with our board, but one family’s story stuck with me the most.

South Peninsula Jewish Teen Foundation Board Members pictured from left to right: Jaime Korman, Hillel Zand, Daniel Kahan, and Aliza Cohen

A middle-aged single mom with three kids who had gone through a rough divorce with a drug-addicted husband and was forced to choose between medical attention for her slipped disk or shelter for herself and her kids. When one of our board members asked what she would change or improve about the shelter, she replied with the humblest thing one could say. She said, “Absolutely nothing. Shelter Network has changed my life so much for the better and I couldn’t ask for anything more from the staff that go out of their way to help me and my kids.” I was shocked when I heard that, because honestly, I was expecting complaints about the food or maybe the fact that she had to share a floor with 11 other families, but no. The fact that she was totally content with her life at that moment was something that I tremendously applaud. It donned on me during that moment that what she did for her kids was maybe not the easiest choice, but it ended up being the right choice. Her 12-year-old daughter nearly brought me to tears as she herself was sobbing while expressing gratitude for everything that the shelter had provided for her. Battling her tears, she said, “I’ve been through a lot in my life, and the therapy that they’ve provided me here has helped… so much.” And she, too, reinforced what her mother said: going to Shelter Network was maybe a harder choice than her family choice being split up by staying with relatives, but it was ultimately the best thing that ever happened to them, as it kept them together as one family.

“I’m trying to show appreciation towards my parents more than I have before for the sacrifices they make each and every day for me and my brothers.”

Those 4 hours at Shelter Network, especially those 20 minutes talking with Shelter Network families, really opened my eyes to the sacrifices parents make every single day. Everything parents do, I learned, is done with their children in mind, and that is something I could not respect enough. That night, I returned home thinking, “Sorry Imma (Mom), sorry Abba (Dad) for doubting what you say and do, but you know what, you were probably right.” It’s tough at my age to realize that and admit defeat to those that brought you into this world, but now, I’m trying to show appreciation towards my parents more than I have before for the sacrifices they make each and every day for me and my brothers.

Two San Francisco/Marin Jewish Community Teen Foundation board members were interviewed for this piece and can be heard as part of this feature. This is very exciting for our community and our teens who have invested so much in making the teen foundation program a model of excellence.

More youth become engaged in philanthropy

These days, young people are getting more involved in higher-end decisions that have traditionally been reserved for adults. They’re sitting on foundation boards and allocating grant money to nonprofits. April Dembosky reports.

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Remember the movie Big, in which a 12-year-old boy inhabits the adult body of Tom Hanks and, among other adventures in dramatic irony, wows the heads of a toy company with his insights? Well, for even longer than Big has been out on VHS, a Bay Area–based movement has known that teens are good at consulting on more than PlayStation 3. They’re also instinctively savvy about deciding which after-school program or malaria-prevention project is worthy of a $5,000 to $10,000 grant.

“We live in a one-touch society where as soon as kids turn on their computers, they’re seeing faces of children in need all around the world,” says Sue Schwartzman, Director of Youth Philanthropy of the Bay Area–based Jewish Community Teen Foundations, where grants are decided by teen-led boards.

What do teens get out of it? They get to connect with Jewish teens, enhance their leadership skills, develop their Jewish identity, debate about tough choices and engage in social justice issues and contribute to a fund being matched by the program’s funders. All this while learning how to become effective strategic grantmakers.

The Jewish Community Teen Foundations offers teens in 9th-11th grades an opportunity to engage in Philanthropy in a social setting. This program gives them a foundation that empowers them to move from empathy into action. Last year, 94 teens raised and granted over $177,000 and now they’re hooked!

Applications are now available to serve on the 2010-2011 board and are due October 4th. Please contact us to nominate any Jewish teens that you feel should be involved. More information can be found at www.JewishFed.org/Teens.

After her Bat Mitzvah, Anya had little involvement with other Jewish teens. Anya’s parents served as inspirational role models to their sensitive and intelligent girl. Her father, who didn’t let his confinement to a wheelchair limit him, infused his daughter with a determination to overcome obstacles; and her mother, an education rights attorney, instilled Anya with a perceptive, yet confident passion for change.  

Anya, Teen Foundation Board Mentor. Photo © Aaron Breetwor

In searching for peers who could understand and relate to her sense of higher purpose, Anya’s interest peaked when she came across a flyer for the Teen Foundations.  

Last year Anya and like-minded students who participated in the Teen Foundation raised $52,000 to give out in grants. Anya and her fellow board members had to make tough decisions about where the dollars they raised would go. They struggled with how much should go to Jewish versus secular communities. Ultimately some of their grants went to support 5 young children at an Israeli orphanage. And, wanting to help others help themselves, they also dedicated grants to help Darfur Refugees reclaim shower water that would enable them to start a garden that would supplement their meager food rations and give them produce to sell at the market.  

Today, Anya is serving on the leadership council and has gone from a shy and quiet participator to a persuasive leader and mentor for first-year Teen Foundation board members.  

In 2009, the Federation invested more than $2.9 million in teen and young adult programs, including the Teen Foundations, which raised a combines total of $166,360 last year, to ensure that our community thrives in the future. These programs strengthen Jewish identity, secure a connection to Israel, teach about Judaism, and help create awareness of worldwide Jewish and broader communities in need of investment and change.  

Read more about how the generosity of our community changes lives in the 2009 Impact Report, an annual report that combines the philanthropic outcomes of Federation’s Annual Campaign and the endowed funds of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.  

Your support ensures that our community remains vibrant and strong, now and in the future.  

Sincerely,  

Jennifer Gorovitz
Acting CEO

The money raised by Aaron was pooled with funds raised by two dozen other teens who serve with him on the South Peninsula Jewish Community Teen Foundation. For the past five years the Teen Foundation program has offered groups of Bay Area Jewish teens the opportunity to learn about philanthropy by exploring Jewish values and ideas. One hundred teens serve on the four Boards: San Francisco/Marin, the South Peninsula, the North Peninsula and the East Bay.

Aaron Breetwor plays the saxaphone to raise money for the JCTF

Through a weekend retreat and seven Sunday afternoon meetings, the young foundation members discuss Jewish thought and ideas and participate in a series of exercises designed to teach them how to become philanthropic leaders informed by Jewish values. The teens define their own philanthropic priorities for each of the four Teen Foundations. They then invite charities that operate within their area of philanthropic focus to submit grant requests and make in-person presentations.

The teens also raise the majority of funds used to pay for the grants that they make. The money is raised through letter-writing campaigns aimed at relatives, friends, coworkers, teachers and synagogue members. Aaron’s unique fundraising approach came about because he felt, “it would be a fun and different way to connect with the donors I was asking for money from.”

The Teen Foundation program was initially made possible by one donor’s permanent gift. Other donations have helped to underwrite subsequent program costs and matching grants designed to supplement the funds raised by the teens have also been created. The JCEF’s unrestricted funds and a widening pool of donors have helped to insure that the tradition of Jewish philanthropy is passed on to younger generations.

Since the program’s inception more than $650,000 has been awarded to deserving organizations, including $162,000 that was given out last June. The teens’ diverse concerns were reflected in the grants awarded, including help for inner city American youth, the hungry in Africa, Jewish Coalition for Literacy, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, the preservation of the environment in Israel, and many other concerns.

And Aaron Breetwor, who is in the second year of his Board membership, recently held a second fundraising concert to further his vision of tikkun olam.

To find out how you can support the Jewish Community Teen Foundation program or to get information on applying to become a teen philanthropist, please contact Sue Schwartzman, Director of Youth Philanthropy, at 650.852.9020 x 8007, or sues@sfjcf.org.

“It is probably one of the most worthwhile activities our daughter has participated in. It helped to accelerate the further development of not only a sense of empathy, but of how to turn empathy into positive action.” – Leslie, North Peninsula Teen Foundation Parent

“This program helped me shape my Jewish identity and how I personally am connected to the Jewish community. It also allows me to experience being a Jew without having to rely solely on religion and faith, but giving.” – Ilana, Marin/San Francisco Jewish Community Teen Foundation Participant.

San Francisco Jewish Community Teen Foundation members getting ready to present a grant at the 2008 siyum.

Last year, 100 Bay area Jewish teens raised over $204,000 to help people in need across the globe. The teens who raised the money for those grants were all board members of one of four Jewish Community Teen Foundations: San Francisco/Marin, the South Peninsula, the North Peninsula and the East Bay. This year, despite the continuing recession, these teen philanthropists are poised to announce $162,000 worth of grants to support nonprofit run programs in the Bay Area and throughout the world.

The program, initiated by the San Francisco based Jewish Community Endowment Fund, teaches teens to be strategic philanthropists and agents for change. Teen Foundation Board members spend a year learning to run their own nonprofit foundations. Through a weekend retreat and seven Sunday afternoon meetings, the young foundation members discuss Jewish thought and ideas and participate in a series of exercises designed to teach them how to become philanthropic leaders informed by Jewish values. The teens define their own philanthropic priorities for each of the four Teen Foundations. They then invite charities that operate within their area of philanthropic focus to submit grant requests and make in-person presentations. And they raise the majority of funds used to pay for their philanthropic priorities.

The grant awards will be announced at a series of siyums (celebration of good works) happening in the four regional locations this month. The grant announcement siyums offer an opportunity to both learn about the work being done by Bay Area nonprofits to change lives across the globe and to meet the teen philanthropists who raised the funds that are helping to enable the nonprofits’ missions. Teen Foundation Board members are currently reviewing grant applications to help refugees in Darfur to install gray water projects to seed and grow vegetables; to fund eye care for impoverished Arab Israeli and Ethiopian Israeli children; to use art therapy programs to aid Bay Area homeless children; and to offer support to the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda and their Christian and Muslim neighbors by providing healthcare, insecticide-filled nets, and hygiene education for an entire village. Deciding which programs to fund will require the teen philanthropists to make some difficult decisions.

• For more information about the Jewish Community Teen Foundations, please visit: www.jewishteenfoundation.org
• To attend on of the upcoming siyums, please contact Sue Schwartzman, Director of Youth Philanthropy, 650.852.9020 x 8007, sues@sfjcf.org
• Read the article “Teen-serving nonprofits benefit from local grants” in the Marin Independent Journal.