The B'nai Tzedek Youth Foundation provides a chance for Jewish teens to recognize and act upon the importance of Tzedakah and Gimilut Hasadim. The B'nai Tzedek Youth Foundation along with the outstanding B'nai Tzedek Director, K'vod Wieder, has worked to promote enthusiasm in giving Tzedakah towards Jewish organizations that we feel are important to fund.

At the beginning of the year, we decided on our funding focus. It consisted of four areas of concentration:
1. Poverty
2. Jewish education for young people
3. Environmental policy and protection
4. Direct services to underprivileged and undervalued people

Then we raised $2117 as a group. The Grinspoon foundation matched it 2 to 1 to raise our pool of money to $6350

Then, we dedicated time to researching organizations of our personal interests in order to share them with the group, and we reviewed several proposals from various Jewish organizations to take into consideration. We were also granted the opportunity to observe presentations from some of the organizations, in order to get a first-hand idea of what they needed. Our decisions were narrowed down by considering which organizations represented Jewish value and which ones were most intelligent about how the funding would be used.

After a thorough thought process about what organizations we were most passionate about and who needed the most help, we made three grants to local organizations including:
Rachel's Table with $1425
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires with $1250
National Yiddish Book Center with $500.

Our donation towards Rachel's Table is for their Children's Snack Program for the homeless and hungry. The $1250 donated to the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires' hot meal program for the elderly will pay for the next 100 dinners for the participants. The $500 for the National Yiddish Book Center will sponsor one of their lectures for college students in order to educate them about the Yiddish culture which is in danger of disappearing. These organizations were chosen because of their dedication to Jewish values, services toward poverty and undervalued people, and specific programs that we can be confident about helping to succeed.

We decided on grants towards National and International Jewish Organizations including: Friends of Yemin Orde, Hazon, and Society for Protection of Nature in Israel each with $900, and the Jewish Organizing Initiative with $475. Friends of Yemin Orde, set in Israel, is a program for a Youth Village which houses underprivileged children from over twenty-two countries to interact with children from other youth villages around the world. We funded their Tikkun Olam project which organizes these kids to give back through service and learning. We decided to fund Hazon's program of Tuv Ha-aretz, an Agricultural project that buys shares of organic produce to grow kosher food that is "good for the land" and healthy. Lastly, the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel is a program that works for protection of nature and the environment in Israel along with spreading awareness and activism. We funded a program that connects Ethiopian youth with Israeli youth in joint learning about the Israeli Environment. These organizations were each close to our hearts because they represented our areas of focus.

Our decisions communicate the principles that we, as individuals, and as a group are passionate about, and we feel that we have truly made a difference in the world.