JCC Youth Volunteers to Give a Day

Local Jewish youth have the chance this spring to help the community get clean, green and more connected to people of other faiths.

The Jewish Community Center of Louisville is working in partnership with The Center for Interfaith Relations, the Mayor’s office, Metro United Way and the Kentucky Derby Festival to host an Interfaith Youth Give a Day Service Project on Sunday, April 13, 1:30-4 p.m.

Youth from various congregations throughout the city in 6th-12th grades can help clean the Louisville Science Center’s campus and surrounding area following Thunder Over Louisville.

Rachel Lipkin, JCC middle school director, who is helping organize the event, said the goal is to get 200 youths participating.

“Besides having fun and doing community service, I think they’ll get to meet others from diverse religious backgrounds, giving them a more complex perspective of life,” she said.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer signed a resolution adopting the international “Charter for Compassion” in 2011, at the Festival of Faiths, making Louisville the largest city in America to do so.

“Give a Day week of service has become our annual barometer on our progress towards making Louisville a more compassionate city,” Fischer wrote in a letter explaining the Interfaith Youth Give a Day Project.

In 2013, more than 100,000 acts of compassion were logged during the week of service.

“The City of Louisville aims to be one of the nation’s greenest and most environmentally friendly cities. We are taking steps each day to protect and improve public health and the environment, while creating a culture of sustainability. The Interfaith Youth Give A Day project will provide an opportunity for middle and high school youth of diverse faith backgrounds to come together and serve our community,” he wrote.

Rain or shine, participants will meet at The Kentucky Science Center, 727 W. Main St. The service event will take place in the Yarmuth Garden located behind the Science Center. Light refreshments will be served, and there will be a few words of inspiration before assignments given for the day.

 

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