Temple Beth El Scholars Step Up To Help Others

Twenty-one eighth and ninth grade students who attend services at Temple Beth El in Aliso Viejo came together recently to help make a difference both locally and beyond.

All of these teens are 13 or 14 years old. Most are recent graduates from , , The Farm School or other local community schools.

Who They Are: Max Batterson, Natalie Bloom, Joelle Engler, Adam Faskowitz, Jack Fleitman, Karen Gibbs, Sarah Gorlick, Hannah Hart, Jared Ijams, Charlie Kappes, Jamie Kern, Matthew Kutner, Charlotte Lubowe, Rachel, Lustig, Hannah Peck, Cooper Rofsky, Jacob Rothberg, David Rotter, Adrian Rosiak-Gallardeo, Alexis Shulman and Jeremy Traub.  

Who Helped Out: Rabbi K'Vod Wieder of Temple Beth El and the parents of the teens provided shuttle service and internet access for research purposes.

What They Did: The teenagers heard that Temple Beth El was interested in forming a new group for middle school students. In order to join the group, each young person was required to make a financial commitment and donate at least $100 from his or her own personal funds. Next, they had to agree to participate in research and fundraising activities. Ultimately, they would collectively decide which organizations would receive the donations raised.  

What Happened Next: After extensive research, the students decided on three issues they felt were important. According to Joelle Engler, "We learned about the reality of poverty in Orange County. We learned about how cancer works and how it is being fought. We learned about the different ways that people try to support people with physical challenges."

The students continued to discuss their choices and found they needed to work together to make the best decisions. As Natalie Bloom explained, "After hearing about and looking at the different projects, some decisions were easy. But others were very difficult. Do we give a little money to a larger number of grantees, or do we give a bigger amount to fewer so they can make a substantial difference?"

How It Turned Out: In the end, the students raised over $7,000 and made the following disbursements:

• $2,175 to the Illumination Foundation (for their Interim-Housing Program)
• $2,175 to the Cancer Research Institute
• $1800 to the Yad Sarah (an organization that loans medical equipment to the disabled)
• $1,000 to the Goodwill Fitness Center of  Orange County (a gym for disabled individuals)

Congratulations to the 21 teenagers from Temple Beth El in Aliso Viejo.  We are proud to call you our "Whiz Kids!"