The Hands On Tzedakah/Hillel Community Service Program
Hillel connects students to their community, their peers and their heritage through an array of social, cultural and community service programs. The challenge at UF Hillel and on every other campus is: to provide engaging and meaningful Jewish experiences for these students during their identity-forming years.
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Contact Information:
Hillel at the University of Florida, Keith Dvorchik, Executive Director, Norman H. Lipoff Hall, 2020 W. University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32603; Telephone: (352) 372-2900 ext. 705; email: keith@ufhillel.org, website: www.ufhillel.org
Project Rebuild New Orleans March 2007
UF Hillel will be leading 18 students to New Orleans to aid in the effort to rebuild the devastated city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. These students are eager to use their spring break, a week free of university obligations, to give back to a community in need. They will meet up with students from 20 other Hillels around the country. Students and staff stay in large communal bunk style housing and work through the first responder (those that provide immediate support services during prevention, response, and recovery operations) not for profit organization Operation Blessing and also the National Relief Network. The majority of the work the students will be doing is gutting homes. Some will work on new construction, but most of them will pull appliances and belongings out of homes, take down sheet rock and dry wall and clean the remaining debris from the houses. The work is hard. Work gloves, masks and hard hats are nor mere uniforms, but essential. Photos do not do this scene justice. 18 months after this national disaster, neighborhoods are still dark, homes are empty of life, mold is everywhere and a tour of the area is a reminder of what was lost, and the speculation as to when, and if normalcy will return.
This is a transformative trip for the students. Hillel International will cover the modest cost of accommodations and food. This project has a registration fee which each student is responsible to pay. Our experience with this trip with students from the Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach as well as HOT’s own work within Mississippi and our visit to New Orleans, makes this project one that fits perfectly within the mission and goal of HOT’s Community Service Project Program. Hands on Tzedakah will cover the cost of the transportation for the students to New Orleans and back to Gainesville.
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Community Living Renewal
Gainesville, Florida is a beautiful college town well-known for its tree cover and natural beauty. Gainesville offers a calm and peaceful environment with big city offerings with a small town feel. As a result of the small town environment, it is very common to have bordering neighborhoods vary from beautiful and well-maintained to ones of disrepair.
The focus of this project will be to take a block within a neighborhood in which the homes require painting and the property requires landscaping. The painting will be an on-going process throughout the spring 2007 semester until completion. The landscaping started in February. In addition, the student volunteers will follow up with the residents, offering opportunities for neighborhood children, such as child-focused gardening, park renewal and other activities. Groups of students are working with local businesses who are supplying the plantings at a reduced cost and providing assistance to the students in the proper planning, design and installation of plants.
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Leading Up North
The original intent of this trip was for students who had previously been to Israel to go to the northern part of the country and do a short-term service project during the winter break by helping to rebuild areas that were destroyed during the war against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
The idea was a spin-off of what the Schusterman Family Foundation was offering in gathering 500 young Jewish leaders from around the world to do the same thing. UF Hillel had 40 students that wanted to participate. With an allocation of 5 slots for the program, the executive director gave back those seats and went on a fundraising mission to bring UF’s own bus. Hands On Tzedakah paid for 4 students to go on this alternative break.
As in our own December visit up north, these students found that due to the help of locals, the Israeli government and others, the bricks and mortar were pretty much outwardly rebuilt. One student put it best in his own words. The experience I had on this trip was amazing. At first we thought we were going to go help rebuild the north, however due to the help of the government and locals the north was already pretty much rebuilt. Instead, we were able to talk and help people that were victims from the war last summer. My favorite place was working with the at-risk kids. They were telling us about the crazy experience it was for them hearing the sirens for the incoming bombs all the time... They also told us that they were only able to use two out of the three bomb shelters. Therefore, part of what we did there was transforming the third bomb shelter in a usable and productive space. Even though that was rewarding, we were able to spend lunch with a family for 4 days in a row. There I was able to develop a relationship with the kids who I am still in contact with through email.
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