DOING GOOD WELL
Small acts of kindness
really do have a deep and long lasting impact When you ask, people are
willing and honored to help This program
teaches you that you can have an impact. The opportunities are there. You
just have to look, listen and pursue. Check out the Good that has been done so far... Sarah Accomazzo and Nadav Ben-Barak Sarah and Nadav took a trip to Orchard Supply Hardware
and then rounded up the residents of Sarah's co-op and spent an afternoon
painting ceramic pots. Once decorated,
the pots were planted with indoor plants and prepared to be delivered to
residents at the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living an independent and
assisted living facility located in Danville. Sarah and Nadav enjoyed Shabbat morning
services with residents before spending the afternoon talking with residents
and distributing the potted plants. They
said that residents were so touched that someone cared enough to bring them a
plant and graciously accepted the gifts and agreed to care for the plants. But Sarah and Nadav had not yet spent their
full $180 and decided to use the rest to appreciate the unappreciated. Prepared with flowers and cards that thanked people for the work they do for
our community, Nadav and Sarah visited the kitchen staff at the dining halls on
the Cal campus
and spent an hour at a local bus stop giving flowers to the bus drivers
In Spring 2002, Berkeley
Hillel launched Doing Good Well, an innovative service learning program that
gave 15 students $180 and told them to go out and do something good with it. The program was inspired by a
People magazine article about Pastor
Denny Bellesi of Aliso Viejo, CA, who, one day in church,
invited 100 parishioners up to the pulpit, handed them each a $100 bill and
told them to do a good deed. Two elements of Doing Good
Well made it stand out. First,
participants were given few restrictions about how to spend their money simply
to do good and do it well. Second, participants met three times during the
course of the semester to explore, from a Jewish perspective, the guiding
principles of community involvement, the mandate for direct service and the
imperative to engage in political and social change. Participants had many
wonderful things to say about their experience:
This spring, Doing Good
Well is back. You could be one of 10 students to make a difference in the
world around you.
To apply download and fill out the application.
Applications are due February 8, 2007. Selected applicants will be notified on February 12th. Participants must attend three group meetings between February 15th and March 23rd.
Debbie's goal was to donate supplies to a classroom, however her project changed after she met Lauri Baumgarten and her 4th grade class at Jefferson Elementary School. Debbie learned that the class was currently reading books about the Holocaust. The opportunity to use Hillel's money to further expand the Holocaust education in this diverse, public elementary school seemed like the best use of the money. So, Debbie decided to combine her love for videography with the Holocaust unit in class. She has since spent the rest of the semester, going to the school twice a week, making a "Television Show" starring the 4th graders, whom are teaching their Holocaust stories in the form of a television program. Since the project has started, the students have shown drastically larger interest in the books that they are reading, and how these now affect their lives. This project is helping the students raise their self confidence about reading, art and videography, as well as look more in-depth into the stories of which they subsequently became the teachers. The class goal is to make a video that is later sent to other 4th grade classrooms, to reach students who have not read these stories. Since none of the money has been spent on this project so far, part of it will be used to buy each student a new book, and part of it will go towards the production of the video and reproducing a copy for each student. The students are very excited about finding fame and learning about Jewish history all at the same time.
Last year, Talli made a giant panda bear for an art class project. When she made him, she stuffed him with newspaper, always intending to one-day stuff him with proper stuffing and donate him to the local children's hospital. When this project came along, it was time to dust off the bear and spiff him up. As she was working on it, she realized that a communal teddy bear is nice, but what kids really need is a teddy bear of their own. Talli contacted a local organization that works with homeless families and has coordinated a field trip to take kids and their parents to the local Build-a-Bear workshop and then out for lunch. Knowing that $180 wouldn't go very far, Talli organized a rolodex mailing to ask people to support her project. With less than half of the envelopes returned, Talli has (to-date) raised $755 as well as secured a $300 donation of materials from Build-a-Bear! On her first trip she took 12 kids and 8 parents.
Alex Shwarzstein and Hanina Stettin
Alex and Hanina (both Cal Class of 2005) decided to have fun while raising a couple hundred dollars for the Make A Wish Foundation. We learned that even a silly idea thought up mid-conversation can turn into something great if we have the willpower to make it happen. And they did. Through generous donations of gift certificates from local restaurants and the warm support of people in the community, Alex and Hanina didn't spend a penny as they planned an event that auctioned off 12 people for dates to audience members. In the end they were able to write a check for $513 to Make A Wish. Their words of wisdom for others: Don't assume a month isn't long enough to plan an entire event, and don't assume people aren't willing to help you- often all you need to do is ask.