Visit an older adult. Tutor a child. Work at a holiday carnival. These are just a few of the many volunteer possibilities available through UJA-Federation of New York. Find a project that’s right for you.
Marc Granetz
Marc Granetz, an executive at Credit Suisse, is one of a group of senior professionals at the firm who rotate leading fellow employees each month to volunteer at Project ORE, a homeless outreach program that offers daily kosher meals.
Granetz started serving as a group leader in 2007. “Sitting and talking with people while they eat lunch humanizes them,” Granetz says. “It makes more real for you the lives of people in the city [who] require basic needs like food or shelter.”
Located at Congregation Emunath Israel in Manhattan, Project ORE is funded by the Educational Alliance, a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation of New York.
Through outreach by UJA-Federation’s Wall Street and Financial Services Division, the Credit Suisse group of volunteers helps serve lunch and also provides a compassionate ear by listening and engaging clients in conversation.
And for groups at the firm who volunteer from the same department, their act of service also doubles as a team-building effort.
Anna Rachmansky
“Being active in UJA-Federation makes me feel like a part of ….something bigger than just me and my immediate world,” Anna Rachmansky says.
Rachmansky, an émigré from the former Soviet Union, has long been active in UJA-Federation of New York’s Russian Leadership Division, which represents Russian-speaking Jewish New Yorkers. She is also a board member of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
In 2003, Rachmansky joined the Observership Program, which provides young leaders a chance to view firsthand the operations of a UJA-Federation beneficiary agency. She served as an observer at the Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton-Manhattan Beach and was elected to the agency’s Board of Directors the following year. In January 2008, she became its president.
“I consider it my way of giving back,” says Rachmansky. “After all, it was the American Soviet Jewry movement that fought for me and countless others to come here. Now the time has come to help our own in the community.”
Rebecca Schwartz
Rebecca Schwartz celebrated her bat mitzvah four years ago by participating in UJA-Federation of New York’s Give a Mitzvah — Do a Mitzvah program for young people that benefits those in need. But her commitment did not end there.
Rebecca, who is now 17 years old and a junior at the Trinity School, got involved with UJA-Federation’s Volunteer & Leadership Development Division (VLDD).
Her first project was to help maintain a database of volunteers. Rebecca also assisted in organizing Explore a Mitzvah, which provides volunteer opportunities for older teenagers who are alumni of Give a Mitzvah — Do a Mitzvah.
Rebecca’s parents, Eric and Erica Schwartz, have long been active volunteers at UJA-Federation, and her mother is on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.
“I know how much time and effort has to be put into everything,” Rebecca says. “I’ve had an insider’s perspective, so I want to do even more.” ♦
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