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Student Pitches!

At each b'nai mitzvah, we give students a framed quote from Pirkei Avot: "It is not on you to finish the work, but neither are you released from the obligation to do the work." This gift is intended to convey that we believe the world can get better, that our students are the change agents it needs, and that they are obligated to do all they can to repair it. Alongside this, we teach humility: the humility to recognize that partnership is essential to making change, that big change requires many small steps, and that the work itself — not the credit — is what matters.


Sherut Kehilati, a weekly service learning class in our middle school, was born from a prototype developed during the communal design thinking process we used to build the new division of the school a few years ago. One of the questions surfaced in this process was, "How might we emphasize and cultivate a sense of responsibility in our middle school students to the communities and world they inhabit?" We use many strategies to this end across every subject area and during community gatherings and events. One of those tools is this class.


Each year, the class focuses on a different question through service learning. The first-year students explore what it takes to make our school facilities function daily, and they serve through cleaning, updating inventory, arranging bulletin boards, setting up furniture for Shabbat events, and the like. The next year, they explore the efforts it takes to be a strong and supportive community and why this is important. Some of the service they do include helping out in the preschool, practicing Torah reading skills with elementary students, sending notes to community members who have experienced a simcha or a loss, and thanking people who have supported our school in various ways.


I have the privilege of teaching Sherut Kehilati to eighth grade. Like the essential question of their Humanities curriculum, we focus on how they "choose to participate in society." Sherut Kehilati in eighth grade is divided into three units. We start with a speaker series, wherein the students hear from people making a difference on all sorts of local and global issues. Ruth Messinger visits to open the semester with framing about systemic change versus direct service, and then they hear speakers from Hebrew Free Loan, Westside Campaign Against Hunger, New Neighbors Initiative, and many more. In a later unit, the class studies political advocacy as a specific lever of change. We partner with Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger to learn about food insecurity, delve into a timely legislative issue related to food justice, and lobby our representative in Congress on that issue when we visit DC on our end-of-the-year trip. The unit we culminated this week is an organization research project. Each student chooses an organization to research that works on an issue close to their heart. They learn the difference between an organization's vision, mission, and strategies; how to learn about an organization's finances; the different ways to assess impact; and the tools to determine whether to support an organization. For their final project, each student writes a short fundraising pitch for the organization they researched — inviting others to support that work and join the holy obligation Pirkei Avot describes.


I am delighted to share these pitches with you today! We hope you are inspired by their research and passion, and that you consider supporting one or more of these organizations.


Student Fundraising Pitches

The organization I chose to research for this project was the Afghan Health Initiative (AHI). They work on helping immigrants from Afghanistan find a more comfortable life in the United States, primarily in Washington state. I chose them for their fast growth, and the ways they help so many immigrants live happier, healthier lives. In just under six years, they have helped more than 96,000 Afghan immigrants. AHI is rated 85% on Charity Navigator. I think that people should donate to AHI, because of their high impact rate with such little time being a nonprofit.


I think mental health is a big issue. Many people suffer from anxiety, depression, and more mental disorders. I personally have trouble with my mental health, so when I had to choose an organization for this project, I wanted it to address this issue, and that's exactly what ADAA (Anxiety and Depression Association of America) does. ADAA is a nonprofit that addresses mental health problems directly by giving people access to medicine, support, and more. I think you should support ADAA because it is filled with teams of trustworthy psychiatrists.


Shelter is one of our basic needs, but many people cannot afford the home that they need. For this reason, I decided to research an affordable-housing nonprofit called Enterprise Community Partners. Enterprise gives housing-related loans and builds and manages affordable housing communities all over the U.S. Since its creation 44 years ago, Enterprise has used over $90 billion to help create 1.1 million homes, affecting millions of Americans. I think this organization should be supported because of its capabilities and impact. Additionally, it is trusted by many other organizations that track nonprofits.


Every morning, I look in the mirror before I leave the house. For me, each piece of clothing is a representation of who I am, and I want to make sure I can show the best version of myself before I step outside. The fast fashion industry, which creates the majority of textile waste, thrives on the dopamine rush that comes from purchasing the newest addition to our wardrobes. It's just human nature. But if fast fashion is wasteful, I don't want it representing me, no matter how cute the shirt. Fabscrap is an organization that is determined to create a world without commercial textile waste by diverting it from landfills. Since their launch in 2016, they have diverted 2,226,949 lbs of fabric from landfills and redistributed 546,922 lbs of material to creators. After being sorted, the fabric is bought by small businesses and crafters from Fabscrap warehouses. I think that people should sign up to volunteer with Fabscrap through the organization's website, earning them up to 5 pounds of free fabric, or donate money, because Fabscrap isn't just an organization; it is a growing community of people who are passionate about sustainable fashion. Other than helping with climate change, donating money allows Fabscrap to provide fabric to nonprofits, K-12 programs, and other groups that would otherwise not be able to afford these materials. I believe in Fabscrap's mission. When I look in the mirror each morning, I'd like to see a more sustainable version of myself.


Hidden Sparks chooses to focus on teachers who don't know how to handle students who haven't reached their full capacity of knowledge. They have courses that teach teachers how to help kids with neurodiversity and learning differences. I chose this issue because, being a student, I know how it feels when a teacher doesn't understand how to handle your needs and I don't want any student to feel like that. Imagine you are a teacher who has a student who doesn't do well on any work they do. Well, to solve this issue you need to have a teacher who understands your learning needs in a respectful way. Hidden Sparks has coaching classes just for that. This organization is international and partners with Jewish schools to help students unleash their hidden spark. To describe their impact, an anonymous teacher from a school says that Hidden Sparks taught her to focus on the students' strengths rather than weaknesses. People should support this organization because no parent wants to watch their child struggle when they know how much knowledge they have. It's important for Jewish Day Schools to be inclusive and serve a population of Jewish children that includes children with learning differences, and they can't do this unless the teachers are properly trained. A way to support Hidden Sparks is to give them money, which will help them get better teaching tools like books or technology — and that will eventually help students get into a good high school or college!


I believe in humanizing people you disagree with because I believe being able to respectfully disagree is the foundation of work on any other issue, and because polarization prevents compromise and ruins relationships. The organization I chose to write about is Living Room Conversations, an organization that works on bringing people together through disagreement. They design guides for structured conversation with the goal of actually hearing other sides. Thousands of people participate in these conversations and most find them meaningful. You can support this organization by donating or having a conversation with one of their guides.


I chose to support an organization called the National Alliance to End Homelessness that is working on helping house people experiencing homelessness through systemic change. I chose it because I think everyone deserves housing and needs shelter. They help make an impact through advocacy and teaching people to advocate. I think that they do great work and they are having a positive impact on the world, and I would encourage you to support them, however before donating, I would recommend asking why they have approximately $27,000,000 in assets and what they plan to do with that money.


The issue I chose is accessible health care. I chose this issue because health care is central to people's lives. However, insurance often doesn't cover it, and without insurance it is far too expensive. The organization that is working on my issue is called NICHQ. NICHQ stands for National Institute for Children's Health Quality. According to its website it is an “independent, 501(c)3, mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to driving dramatic and sustainable improvements in the complex issues facing maternal and child health.” This organization's impact is in helping women and children get the help they need by using strategies like making partnerships and providing technical and medical aid. NICHQ supports others who are working toward the same goals. While NICHQ does have a positive impact, according to several of NICHQ's workers, the management and structure of NICHQ is messy and inefficient. You may want to look into this before deciding whether to support the organization.


I chose the ever-changing issue of AI, and what could be done about it. The OpenAI Foundation set the groundwork for one of the most famous AI models ever, ChatGPT. Their stated mission is to make sure that AI benefits all of humanity. That engine now has 250 million users weekly, with advanced reasoning capabilities… I'm sure you all have heard of it after it did your homework. Despite this, you should not support the OpenAI Foundation. While it initially pioneered advanced reasoning models as a nonprofit, its historical contribution does not justify endorsement. In order to fund its massive data centers, it created a for-profit arm, handing the keys right to the Silicon Valley investors. When the board attempted to fire their CEO over reckless development to enforce a “safety first” mandate, the for-profit arm and investors crushed the attempted ousting. After this, the Foundation replaced its members and surrendered to the for-profit wing. After this, it was forced to abandon its old vision, and now prioritizes reckless speed towards AI, deceptiveness towards its employees, and military contracts over transparency. By overseeing a reckless rush toward superintelligence, obscuring its operations, and enabling weaponization, the Foundation actively creates more harm. They essentially rubber-stamp the for-profit sector. Therefore, despite its early innovations, supporting the OpenAI Foundation is unwise. (I didn't write this with AI — don't worry.)


The organization I chose to support is Planned Parenthood, which provides affordable sexual and reproductive healthcare, advocates for policy changes to protect reproductive freedom, and provides sex education while using the motto “Care. No matter what.” I chose this issue because it is important for all people, no matter their sex, gender, race, religion, or economic class, to get the reproductive healthcare and sex education they need. Planned Parenthood has served about 2.08 million patients, has provided about 9.4 million additional services, and has over 600 clinics around the United States, along with telehealth services. In 2019, they helped pass three bills in New York: the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act (CCCA), and the “Boss Bill.” These bills make it safer and more accessible for women to get an abortion, ensure that people can get cost-free contraceptive coverage, and deny employers the ability to gain access to information on their employees’ reproductive health. People should support this organization because they do important work that can change people's lives, and the Trump administration has cut its government funding, which has brought great struggles to the organization. As a result, 1.1 million patients could be blocked from using their Medicaid insurance to pay for care from Planned Parenthood. You can support this organization by advocating for causes that Planned Parenthood supports, volunteering with the organization, or donating directly.


The issue that I chose is mental health because everyone deserves to have mental well-being, which is exactly what Vibrant, a direct service provider for mental health, works for. They have multiple ways for people to reach out. Some of these include a suicide line, a veterans line, a line for people experiencing alcoholism, and many more. They also have chat and text services and host community programs. Vibrant is also devoted to helping communities in the aftermath of natural disasters. In 2024, they answered over 12 million calls, texts, and chats, and helped 1,666 families. People should support this organization because they do amazing work that helps people and saves lives. You can support Vibrant by donating or advocating with them.

 
 
 

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