More than 50 teens from Moorestown and the surrounding area came together to work on hands-on service projects.
On Sunday, April 15, more than 50 teens from Moorestown and the surrounding area came together at the Moorestown Community House to work on 10 hands-on service projects, the byproducts of which having been distributed to local nonprofits and charities throughout the subsequent weeks. The J-Serve event hosted by the Moorestown Jewish Association Teen Group and the Moorestown-Mount Laurel BBYO was part of the International Day of Jewish Youth Service, which has taken place in Jewish communities throughout the world since 2005.
The activities ran the gamut from collecting toys for the Friends of the Burlington County Animal Shelter, assembling gift bags for domestic abuse victims through Project SARAH, filling snack bags for children at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia and other hands-on projects.
Caryn Shaw, advisor to the MJA teen group, said this marks the second year MJA has participated in J-Serve. She said last year, the group went to Gift of Life Family House in Philadelphia, a nonprofit that provides temporary housing following an organ transplant, and did a lot of baking. She said they decided they wanted to do an even further-reaching event, so they spent nearly a year planning the 2018 J-Serve activities.
J-Serve distributes grants to participating organizations, so, through a $500 MJA grant and private donations, the groups covered the cost of the Community House and the project expenses. Shaw said they also coordinated donating the necessary project items using an online sign up sheet.
Along with teen leaders Robyn Shaw, Taylor Kares and Sophia Modena, Shaw spent months deciding how they could do a variety of hands-on projects. She said they called a variety of local organizations to find out what they needed and how they could create products that would benefit them.
On April 15, they played videos talking about the work each charity does. Shaw said the goal was to give the teenagers a deeper understanding of each charity, so they could have a deeper connection with the work they are doing.
Shaw said the message of the day was that it’s easy to give back.
“I kind of wanted to give them that sense that it doesn’t take much to make someone’s day,” Shaw said. “I wanted to expose them to all the different charities around.”
Because their work was part of an international day, there was a palpable sense of being part of something bigger, Shaw said.
Fifteen-year-old Robyn Shaw said the event taught her and her fellow teen leaders about what organizing an event entails. She said they reached out to organizations they had worked with before, such as the animal shelter and Ronald McDonald House, and learned how to coordinate their efforts.
“I think it was really nice to all come together,” Robyn said. “It meant a lot to know you’re helping people and know you’re giving back to people.”
Shaw said the food sensitive items, such as sandwiches for the homeless, were dropped off immediately following the event, but the remaining projects will be distributed in the coming weeks to their respective organizations.
“I think everyone thought it was an amazing event and loved the hands-on aspect of it,” Shaw said. “They love the idea of being part of something bigger.”
Shaw said they’ve already come up with ideas for next year’s J-Serve event and have gotten to work planning for 2019.
For more information on J-Serve, visit jserve.org.
