Blog Post: It’s Called a Mitzvah! JSN Youth Help the Needy

Tikkun Olam means, “heal the world.” This is the basic tenet that underlies each of my students’ mitzvah projects. For each Mitzvah project, JSN students have taken the commandment of Tikkun Olam to heart and undergo some sort of volunteer, community-service work. Last Sunday, while many of their friends and family were out doing other things, these boys and girls had more rewarding plans for the sunny day.  

Spencer Haber (12), Jeremy Tolsky (12), Ryan Kravitz (12), Evie Schwartz (12) and Kathlyn Haber (15), as well as their parents, met with me this past Sunday at the SOVA hub pantry in Van Nuys to help sort donated items and label them before being distributed to the needy. 

SOVA pantries help assist over 13,000 people each month by providing Sustenance (i.e. food baskets), Opportunity (i.e. Job Counseling), Volunteerism (for youth such as JSN students to get involved) and Advocacy (to politically promote their cause). Hence, the acronym SOVA! And they really do a great job at fulfilling their mission.

Many of the families that have received assistance have improved in terms of their general livelihood and housing, but many of their incomes are still insufficient to meet some their basic family needs. For ways to contribute to the organization visit:http://www.jfsla.org/SOVA.  

People are often referred to the program by social service providers, government offices, nutrition programs, health facilities, as well as by word of mouth. Some of the items donated include: canned foods, dried foods, baby food, baby formula, diapers, over-the-counter medications, cleaning supplies and personal care items.

These items are sorted, bagged, and then distributed to the agencies that desperately need these items to assist the needy and the homeless. The term SOVA is taken from a Hebrew word which means to be full (eat or drink and be satisfied). The program also has a small full-time and part-time staff which help organize the hundreds of volunteers who work weekly in the three neighborhood SOVA pantries

For nine years in a row, JSN's B'nai Mitzvah students and their families have proudly worked hard to raise thousands of dollars and volunteer hundreds of hours to assist SOVA and other community service organizations as a mitzvah and for Tikkun Olam. The Friendship Circle Walk, The World Watch Walk to end genocide, the Manna Project, and the Sova Program are just few of the many great organizations JSN coordinates volunteer work with each year.

A special thanks to Evie Schwartz and her mother Lisy for coordinating this visit and helping to “heal the world.”

Nomie Azoff

Director of JSN

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