UJA-Fed of NY Does JSAM III

UJA-Federation of NY does JSAM! (from cheshvan.org)

The COJP Task Force on Strengthening Jewish Peoplehood in New York has made its grant decisions for Jewish Social Action Month (JSAM) 2007, for social action projects taking place wholly or in part during the Jewish month of Cheshvan, which corresponds to October 12 - November 10, 2007.

A total of 17 grants have been approved, at an average funding level of approximately $3,000 each.

Four grants are to synagogues;
Three grants are to college campus-based Jewish organizations;
Five grants are to JCCs and YM-YWHAs;
Four grants are to other UJA-Federation network agencies;
One grant is to an Israeli organization whose project will invlove Jewish schools in New York and Israel .

The nature of service/social action includes assistance to the elderly, refugee and immigrant populations, orphans in Ukraine and local poor, programming for the developmentally challenged, environmental issues, support for emergency medical services, cultural preservation, and outreach to Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans . Several projects offer participants a variety of options for their volunteer placement.

All projects include a meaningful Jewish service learning component, which teaches volunteers about the Jewish values of community service and social justice, and in some cases explores Jewish source material on the particular focus of the service, such as caring for the elderly.

With regard to the goal of building community by encouraging diversity among volunteers, some of the projects bring together distinct groups such as Ashkenazi and Sephardi teens or Reform and Persian Jewish professionals, while others seek to attract volunteers from a broad range of backgrounds.

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