Young Jewish volunteers help out low income communities amid coronavirus
“With the lockdown and quarantine, it was really hard to get connected with nonprofits,” said Alyssa Romo, a rising junior at Columbia University, according to the Forward.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFAn emergency grant by The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews enables soup kitchen meal delivery to help those who can no longer come to them for aid(photo credit: IFCJ)
Jewish Youth across the United States have been volunteering their time to assist others during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Forward report.The Jewish volunteers in discussion have been working with a summer program titled Serve the Moment.Under the auspices of Repair The World, a Jewish NGO that connects volunteers with unique fitting projects, Serve the Moment places 100 Jewish volunteers age 18-29 in paid summer volunteer roles that serve both Jews and non-Jews around the country. Roles that mirror "Meals on Wheels" programs distributing meals as well as tutoring opportunities, among others.Isabel Kornman, 24 - a young Jewish volunteer - detailed her summer plans with the Forward. Kornman is currently working with So Others May Eat (SOME). She spends her days preparing meals for low income communities in addition to filing the and managing the mail for the organization.She intented to spend the summer working, however, she was laid off at the onset of the pandemic, according to the Forward. Kornman found this gave her a sense of purpose in the overwhelming time of uncertainty. She noted that she always pictured herself during the peak of a "historical crisis" helping others, taking the opportunity with her first pandemic to put thought into action.“I was feeling very useless,” said Kornman, according to the Forward. “But I’m living in this time period, and I was doing nothing.”According to Yello, around one-third of student interships have been cancelled since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, when the first cases were discovered in Wuhan, China in late 2019.“With the lockdown and quarantine, it was really hard to get connected with nonprofits,” said Alyssa Romo, a rising junior at Columbia University, according to the Forward.Romo works in grant research for Food Runners, a San-Francisco NGO that repurposes leftover food. She intends to begin working in a second role providing tech support for seniors.Following this year's summer program, Serve the Moment intends to take on more fellows for extended summer/fall programs amid the crisis. Avodah, Hillel International, Moishe House and the Union for Reform Judaism have agreed to sponsor the programs, according to the Forward.“At the end of the pandemic, we want to be able to say, ‘Wow, the Jewish community really made a difference. We really supported those people who were most vulnerable,’” World CEO Cindy Greenberg told the Forward.
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