Current Social Action and Community Service Projects

Jewish World Watch/Solar Cookers for Darfur Refugees: Refugees from the genocide in Darfur have to leave the safety of their refuge camps to gather fire wood to cook their rations. When they leave the camps they are often attacked and killed. We have been raising money to provide refugees with solar cookers, so that they can cook their food without leaving the safety of the refugee camps. So far we have sent approximately 45 solar cookers to families in the refugee camps in partnership with Jewish World Watch.

Birthday Angels: This project sponsors birthday parties for children in Israel whose families are so poor that they have never had a birthday party! So far we have sponsored birthday parties for 12 children.

rockCANroll: Our students collect canned goods which rockCANroll uses to stock local food pantries that provide free food to needy Long Islanders. In addition, rockCANroll hires developmentally disabled workers to process the cans of food that are donated. We have collected over 2,000 pounds of food.

Remember Us: Through this project (the brainchild of a Bronx-shule alumna), a student can “adopt” a Jewish child who was killed in the Holocaust. The student receives information about the identity of this child (name, place of birth, parents and siblings, place of death) provided by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and research center, and the student solemnly commits to keeping the memory of this child alive throughout the student’s own life. We have 30 students participating in this meaningful project.

Mitzvah Slip Project: The innovation of our Director, Staci Davis, this project encourages students to do good deeds continually in their daily lives. Students submit Mitzvah Slips cataloging their good deeds. The class with the most Mitzvah Slips each month is rewarded with an in-class ice cream party. Mitzvahs run from helping a sibling with homework, to caring for a sick neighbor, to participating in an autism walk, to students donating their hair to an organization that provides free wigs to needy children with cancer, etc. The list of our students’ good deeds appears to be endless. We are averaging more than 3,000 Mitzvah Slips each year.

Jewish World Watch/Darfur Postcard Campaign: We participated in Jewish World Watch’s campaign to remind President Obama that ending the genocide in Darfur must be a priority of his administration. Our students were responsible for sending 1,000 postcards out of a total of one million postcards sent to President Obama as part of this initiative.

Heifer International: This is a community development/sustainability program that helps poor communities throughout the developing world become self reliant. This is done by providing families with the gift of livestock. Each recipient agrees to "pass on the gift" by giving away the offspring of their livestock to another needy family.

Helping Local Family with Young Child with Cancer: We have been working in a number of ways to help the family of a young child with cancer. He and his young brother are being raised by a single mom. We collected food for their Thanksgiving Dinner. We collected toys for their Hanukkah presents. We have raised more than $1,000 to help this family meet all of their expenses.

Sunrise Day Camp: We are raising money to help send a child with cancer to the only day camp in the nation dedicated to children with cancer. Located on Long Island and operated by the Friedberg JCC, the camp is free to any child with cancer. We have collected approximately $800 for this worthy cause.

Walk to Remember: We join with the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County each year in their 1.5 mile education walk to remember the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered in the Holocaust.

Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund: In response to the massive earthquake in Haiti on January 12, we are partnering with American Jewish World Service to raise money to address the urgent needs of the affected population.

Persecuted Tanzanian Albino Population: Our students are working to raise awareness of the tragic situation in Tanzania today, where members of the Albino population are being persecuted, hunted, killed and dismembered so that local witch doctors can use their body parts in rituals and potions that are believed to bring good fortune to the participants. Our students are conducting a petition and letter-writing campaign to raise awareness and lobby our government to exert pressure to end these practices, and are raising funds to directly aid the affected population.

The Backpack Project: We work with Jewish World Watch on The Backpack Project, which provides backpacks filled with shoes, books, school supplies, soap and toothpaste to children who have fled the killing in Darfur and are living in a refugee camp in neighboring Chad. Each backpack also contains something intangible, but essential to their well-being: hope.

Cans For Kids: We are collecting empty soda and juice cans for recycling. The proceeds are used to help children with Tourette’s Syndrome.

Sister Schools Project: We are working with Jewish World Watch, which, in partnership with top NBA players, is sponsoring the building, staffing and equipping of two new schools that will serve over 1,400 students living in Darfur refugee camps in neighboring Chad.

Clothing Drive: Together with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Long Island, we collect used clothing for Long Island’s needy families.

Jewish National Fund: Our students plant tress in Israel annually through the Jewish National Fund.

Forgotten Friends of Long Island: Our students raise funds to support the work of Forgotten Friends of Long Island, an organization that rescues forgotten dogs and cats. This organization gives these animals a chance at life by finding homes for our “forgotten friends”.

Paper Recycling: We partner with Nassau BOCES in a paper recycling project that employs disabled young adults.

We continue to explore additional social action and community service opportunities and partnerships to enable our students to put into practice the progressive Jewish and Workmen’s Circle values that they learn about in the classroom.