Julia W. explains how she set up a youth foundation for her Bat Mitzvah project that helped raise funds for community members in need. Here's how the teen from Oregon got the ball rolling.

It all started when I was looking for a philanthropy project for my Bat Mitzvah. I began interviewing various family members about possible ideas, including my aunt Emily who is one of my role models. She is the chief financial officer of the San Diego Jewish Community Foundation, which has a subdivision for youth who give money to worthy causes. So when I was in San Diego, I met with a woman who works in this subdivision, and she described how their youth foundation works. 

Inspired, I wanted to set up a youth foundation in my own community of Portland. So I sent a letter to the head of the Oregon Jewish Foundation outlining my proposal to create one. I met with principals of religious schools, day schools, and finally the board of rabbis to get them interested in supporting my project. In turn, they gave me names of kids who might be interested in joining. The process took a whole year but finally I got 16 kids--all eighth, ninth, and tenth graders--to come to the first meeting of the Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation (OJCYF).

They came from almost every synagogue and day school in Portland, and, okay, some came just because they are my friends. At our first meeting, we learned what a foundation does, and how we can learn to prioritize our funding decisions using the Jewish values that Maimonides and other rabbis and communities have been discussing for thousands of years.

Raising the funds

All of us on the foundation decided we would each be responsible for a minimum of $36 from our own pockets. A few kids said that they were not willing to give up their own money (they did not come back to the second meeting) but most kids felt good about earning the money themselves. We also found out the head of the Oregon Jewish Foundation convinced some grownups to match the amount of money that the teens raised.

There were teens who gave from their babysitting or gardening earnings. One of my friends got a job washing dishes and serving food at a party. It only took one night of intense work to earn the money. Combining community donations, grants, and our own pool of money, we raised $5,000 we could use to give back to agencies of our choice. We were also each responsible to do two site visits to places that would benefit from receiving our funds: One to a Jewish agency, and one to a community agency.

I had scheduled my site visit to a school for homeless youth called New Avenues for Youth. Unfortunately, there was a huge snow storm on the day I was supposed to go, and everything was closing including my own school. I called Geoff, a staff member at New Avenues for Youth, to see if the school would be shut down. He told me they would not close because that would leave many homeless kids out on the streets all day during the storm. Since the weather was too bad to drive, I decided to walk to the school, which was four miles from my house. It made me grateful for my own home, family, and security; at the same time, it made me so sad for these kids.

Narrowing down the choices

At the third and final meeting of the OJCYF, we all made presentations on the sites we visited and made recommendations for who should get the money. It was interesting to hear about other peoples' experiences. For example, one person talked about the Oregon food bank and the fact that Oregon has the worst hunger problem in the country. Someone else talked about the Jewish Family and Child Service and thought we should give a big grant there because it serves so many different Jewish needs.

As we discussed the merits, we began to make decisions. Some people on the board said Jewish people should support Jewish groups so a minimum of 50% of the funds should go to Jewish agencies. Another teen raised the point that since we were young, we should focus on helping other young people. We debated these issues for quite a while, and most of us agreed to give our money to places where the recipients would learn to help themselves.

We finally decided on the following: Jewish Family & Child Service, $1,700; Jewish Federation of Portland, $500; Northwest Jewish Environmental Project, $100; Robison Jewish Health Center, $200; New Avenues For Youth, $1,000; Oregon Food Bank, $1,000; Clackamas Women's Services, $250; Dougy Center (counseling for children whose family members have died, $250).

One person can make a difference

The OJYCF took a while to set up and held its share of challenges. But it made me feel great that I could make a significant difference in helping the community. I hope it will be an ongoing project in Portland, and something kids can participate in year after year. We set it up so that there would be a new board every year to give new kids a chance, and I hope to be an advisor to the next group of kids this fall.