Award For Purchase Teen Who Founded Nonprofit Service Corps

HARRISON, NY — Purchase, NY teenager Helena Zimmerman was busy preparing her service project for her bat mitzvah, when she stopped to take a look at her peers and their projects. Concerned that teenagers lacked meaningful ways to give back to their communities, Helena co-founded TeensGive.org, which provides in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities for youth in under-served communities.

Through the non-profit, Helena is enacting real change in her community. She is addressing the crucial need for access to educational resources for youth who may not have the necessary means to receive help at their current academic institution.

Since the implementation of TeensGive in 2014, to date there are 4,000 high school members across the United States and 200 volunteer tutors who provide their services through the virtual volunteer platform.

Now, going back to the roots of her original service project – coordinating a bake sale for a public school in Harlem, NY - Helena is currently putting her efforts towards expanding the Counting Cupcakes program, a project-based workshop that teaches entrepreneurial and life skills to middle schoolers.

Counting Cupcakes is the latest initiative launched by TeensGive, which is seeking to expand its outreach to a new audience, and it is the title of Helena’s book, coming soon to Amazon.

For her inspiring work with the nonprofit created for teens by teens, Helena was announced as a recipient of the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, a $36,000 award that recognizes 15 Jewish teens for their leadership and commitment to social good to make the world a better place.

"“TeensGive allows teens to give back to their communities in ways that directly address the inequities in our education system. In this way, I am ‘paying it forward’ by hopefully creating awareness so that more people build opportunities in their own communities,” she told the awards committee.

Now in its twelfth year, the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards have given more than $4 million to 114 teens Jewish teens who are tackling global issues and creating lasting change “to repair the world,” or tikkun olam. The Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards was the creation of Philanthropist Helen Diller – namesake of The Helen Diller Family Foundation.

PHOTOS via The 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards