Natanya's friends make fruit crisp using "free" fruit.

BBYO has impacted my life. Serving on both chapter and regional boards has taught me incredible leadership skills that have shaped me into the person I am and ignited my passion for volunteering. So when deciding which BBYO summer program to attend this year, the choice was obvious: Project Impact.

Project Impact was a whirlwind 12 days filled with making friends, learning about society and social change and performing community service. Throughout the trip, the 60 participants were divided into six groups to serve different organizations in the Boston area. The groups worked with mentally disabled adults, community farms and orchards, underprivileged teens and a housing organization.

My group worked with EarthWorks, an organization that establishes orchards in the Boston area to provide free fruit to the community. We toured multiple orchards, helped lay planting beds for blueberries and learned about how EarthWorks and other non-profits operate. Together, like the other service groups, the EarthWorks group was responsible for creating a social action initiative to help resolve an issue critical to our organization. Surprisingly, many people in the Boston area are unaware of the orchards and their free fruit, motivating us to “spread the word.”

As our project, we picked mulberries and cherries from an EarthWorks orchard and baked fruit crisp. On the designated “service day,” we set up a table outside a grocery store in a low-income neighborhood. We introduced ourselves, described Project Impact and EarthWorks to customers and passed out cups of crisp and berries.

Interacting with low-income families and hearing about experiences that my friends had with the deaf, blind, disabled and homeless has reaffirmed my belief in service and my desire to help those in need. Volunteers are critical in communities and, though I am just one teen, I can, have and will effect change.

Project Impact taught me that I can make an impact and improve the world. I can brighten someone’s day, help provide food for the hungry and build a shelter for the homeless. I can stand up for causes I support and for individuals who cannot stand up for themselves. With this ability, however, comes the responsibility to activate change and ignite a passion for volunteering in others. Volunteering any amount of time to those in need will make an impact. Together, many people improving the community become a movement toward a brighter, safer and happier future.

I am certain that Project Impact has changed me into a less judgmental and more optimistic person. Everyone has a personal story to tell and deserves the opportunity to have his or her voice heard. I have been inspired to enact change in my community, spread awareness, raise money and donate time.

A fundamental belief in Judaism is tikkun olam, or repairing the world. As Jewish teens, we have the utmost responsibility to help those in need and pursue justice throughout the world. So find a cause to support, give to a local organization, help someone in need, be inspired and make an impact. You can change the world, and the world will, in return, change you.

Natanya Russek is a senior at Nicolet High School in Milwaukee. She is very active in the Wisconsin Region BBYO and currently serves as the regional president. She loves volunteering, cooking, playing ultimate Frisbee and hanging out with friends.