Young adults
say they want
to volunteer
but don't
know
where to go.

JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER

Left: David and Stephanie Jacobson,

Mark Freedman and Lily Jacobson at
JARC's Nov. 1 young adult pre-glow.

Below: A Shabbat sing-along at a JARC
picnic for young adults and clients, held
in July.

Getting Active

t happens at least three to
five times a week.
A young adult wants to
get involved in the corn-
munity and Jenifer Adler
usually receives the phone
call.
As director of the Young Adult
Division of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit (YAD),
Ms. Adler will suggest attending
a YAD event or a program spon-
sored by one of the other young
adult groups in the area.
"Getting involved is a broad
term," Ms. Adler said. "I think all
the organizations struggle with
defining it. At first, when people
would tell me they wanted to get
involved, I thought they wanted
to be on committees. It is impor-
tant to find out what their defin-
ition of involvement is. Some
people define it as attending
functions, others want to sit on
committees and still others are
looking for hands-on volunteer-
ing opportunities."
Whatever the definition, there

are numerous young adult and
singles organizations that can
accommodate almost anyone's in-

terpretation or motivation for
"getting involved."
Those who volunteer agree the
hardest part is taking the initial
step of contacting an organiza-

tion and attending that first
function.
"The first part is definitely the
hardest," said Darrin Elias, the
president of the B'nai B'rith
Young Leadership Network
an organization dedicated to
fostering the development of

Jewish leadership.
Ms. Adler suggests first at-
tending smaller YAD programs
like a parlor meeting, where new-
comers get together to talk
informally.
"It's easier to talk to people and
get a feel for what goes on at a

smaller event than at something
like a bar night where there are
hundreds of people," Ms. Adler
said.
It was the personal contact of
an already active friend that

GETTING ACTIVE page 104

Young Adult Involvement Opportunities

• The B'nai B'rith Young Lead-
ership Network is dedicated to
fostering the development of the
next generation of Jewish lead-
ership. The organization offers
social activities like a bowling
league and volunteer opportu-
nities like monthly birthday cel-
ebrations with residents of
Federation's Teitel Apartments.
For information about the net-
work, call the B'nai B'rith office
at 855-5255.
• Hillel of Metro Detroit is an or-
ganization for area Jewish col-

lege students and young adults
(18-30) living in the metro De-
troit area. HMD provides a va-

riety of social and volunteer
activities including coffee nights
and a road rally. It also plans
monthly Jewish awareness
events and social action activi-
ties. For information about
HMD, call (313) 577-3459.
• The JARC Young Adult Com-
mittee was established in 1993
to increase awareness among
young adults about what JARC
does and inspire future leaders

to get involved with the organi-

zation. JARC provides homes
and services for those with de-
velopmental disabilities. The
young adult committee consists
of three subcommittees: fund-
raising, special events and one-
on-one relationships (with JARC
clients). Previous activities with
clients included an oneg Shab-
bat and a Tigers game. For in-
formation about the committee,
call the JARC office at 352-5272.
• Young Adult Division of the
Jewish Federation of Metropol-

itan Detroit is a volunteer char-
itable organization dedicated to
developing leadership and pro-
moting positive Jewish experi-
ences through educational,
cultural, social and volunteer
programming. In addition, it
helps raise funds for the Allied
Jewish Campaign. YAD is made
up of several committees,in-
cluding programming, volunteer
and political awareness. For in-
formation about YAD, call
Jenifer Adler at 642-4260.

OPPORTUNITIES page 105

103