While we may not be able to work together in person, that won’t stop us from supporting the immediate needs of those in our communities, near and far. This year, we have the opportunity to redefine what service looks like, making a direct impact on those issues that affect our communities the most in new and innovative ways. Feel free to use the ideas below as inspiration for a J-Serve project, whether or not you had one previously planned. These can be done in small groups, with your chapter or organization, or as part of a larger community campaign—get creative and have fun! 

• Education Equity: Tutor students in a subject you love, especially students from under-resourced schools. Reach out to a local school to find out what their needs are, or check out TeensGive.org, where you can get virtually tutor a student from a Title 1 school.

• Collect Donation Items: Gather grocery and toiletry supplies for food banks and homeless shelters and arrange for drop-offs or donation pick-up with welfare agencies for local families impacted by closures. Find a local organization to work with or get inspired by the organizations listed here. 

• Connect with your Local Asian Community: Over the last year, there has been an uptick in anti-Asian sentiment due to myths associated with the Coronavirus. Reach out to your local Asian community to show solidarity, offer support, and build cross-cultural connections.

• Fold at Home: Use the power of your computer to help solve infectious diseases by becoming a part fo the Folding@home network.

• Get Hyper Local: Find out about community needs by subscribing to Nextdoor—a virtual hub to connect with your neighborhood. Neighbors have been posting about things they need help with, like meal pick-ups, grocery runs, yardwork, and fundraisers for causes they care about.  

• Go Green at Home: Actually recycle (and know what’s actually recyclable—every community is different), pick up trash when you’re walking through your neighborhood, or use your time at home to begin composting. Order seeds online and plant a garden in your yard or window boxes. Thanks to photosynthesis, even one plant can remove carbon dioxide (which contributes to climate change) from the atmosphere.

• Host a Cooking Show: Record yourself cooking/baking your favorite recipes and donate the meal to a neighbor, friend, or community member in need. 

• Senior Citizen Love: Many senior citizens live alone or independently at nursing homes and retirement communities, and at this time they may not be able to receive visits from family and friends. Offer local senior centers the opportunity to have conference calls and/or video calls to provide some fun, energy, and connection to area residents. You can also do this with individuals who you know who are elderly or immunocompromised and would be up for a virtual visit. This can also be done in the form of email, written letter, or e-card if virtual is not an option. 

• Support the Sick or Quarantined: Check out this resource from our partners at Repair the World and Amplifier which provides guidance on supporting those who are sick.

• Virtual Volunteer Opportunities:

• Explore these opportunities via Good Deeds Day, and official partner of J-Serve 2021, that you can do from anywhere!

• Points of Light, an organization dedicated to creating the world’s largest volunteer community, also has an extensive guide to volunteering virtually to support a range of causes, from disaster relief to wellness to literacy to veterans’ affairs, and everything in between.

• Youth Service America has a round-up of service projects that meet immediate needs during the COVID-19 crisis.

• DoSomething has lots of online service projects to choose from—all you need is an internet connection.

You can launch an entire advocacy campaign without ever leaving your couch. Through conversation, persuasion, and education you and your friends can advocate for change on causes that you’re passionate about, whether it’s encouraging legislators to implement a certain policy or educating the public on a certain topic you care about. There’s no better time to stand up for those who need your support.

• Connect with your Local Asian Community: Over the last year, there has been an uptick in anti-Asian sentiment due to myths associated with the Coronavirus. Reach out to your local Asian community to show solidarity, offer support, and build cross-cultural connections.

• If you’re looking for a good read, and want to learn more about the discrimination Asians have faced, we recommend the novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. There are even discussion questions at the end of the book if you’d like to start a chapter book club.

• Get Inspired by Other Teen Advocates: 2019 was the year of the “Youthquake” -- let’s keep that momentum going into 2021. Learn about the journeys of notable young activists from March for Our Lives and the Sunrise Movement.

• Letter Writing: Start a letter-writing campaign to elected officials on various issues or causes that you and/or your friends care about.

• Run a BBYO Chapter Initiative: BBYO Chapter Initiatives are high-quality plug and play programs that are fun, educational, and help make a difference in the world. Created by our members and inspired by our interests, these programs take on hot topics and teach you how to become an advocate for some of our world’s most pressing issues -- from supporting refugees to Israel advocacy to advocating for people with disabilities.

• Take It to Social Media: Launch a social media campaign on a topic that you’d like to raise awareness around. Design catchy graphics with Canva, recruit your friends, and make a plan. For inspiration, check out this PSA, combatting sexual assault and domestic violence from Oakland BBG #2 of Central Region West.

Anyone can raise funds and donate to a cause they care about, but making intentional decisions around what your community needs and what causes your Jewish values lead you to support is what makes philanthropy so powerful. That power is multiplied when we come together as a community, and this year we are this year to support important organizations making a difference around the world right now.

• Guiding Questions for Decision Making: Make informed decisions about the issue areas and types of organizations that you’d like to support

• Host a Pop-Up Giving Circle: With friends and family, pool money together in order to make collective values-driven donations to organizations that you care about. Download Amplifier Giving’s participant workbook and facilitator’s guide, which walk you through this interactive, 90-minute exercise.

• It’s All About ISF: Virtual ISF Fundraising

• Pet Party: Host a Video Conference Pet Party with competitive games for teams of teens-and-pets to raise funds for local animal shelters.

• Philanthropy Values Chart: Use Jewish values to drive your decision-making

• Show Some Love for Lone Soldiers: Lone Soldiers are those serving in the IDF without immediate family in Israel, often those who’ve made Aliyah. You can donate to the Lone Soldier Center, so that they can purchase items Lone Soldiers need, like jackets and toiletries.

• Unpacking Philanthropy: Guide your research as you decide what organizations to give to