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by Stephanie Steinberg

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nterested in tikkun olam or in getting a head start on
your bar mitzvah project? Then start volunteering
this summer.

Summer in the City (SITC) is a community service
program where teens clean up Detroit by tearing down
buildings, planting, painting murals, volunteering at
elementary schools and more.
Michelle Heller, 17, of Farmington Hills plans to
volunteer with SITC again this summer. She said she Michelle Heller
knew she was making a difference when she helped
clean up a park and people stopped to thank the group.
"I love helping out Detroit and making it a better place,"
she said.
SITC runs through Aug. 17. Carpools meet Tuesday through
Friday at 9 a.m. at various locations and return kids at 2 p.m.
SITC volunteers receive a free T-shirt and are invited to a bar-
Katie Hess
becue every Friday. They also earn community service credits.
If you're looking for a more adventurous experience, some programs
require travel outside the U.S. For example, Building with Books (BwB) flies
kids to help build schools in five countries.
Katie Hess, 16, of Bloomfield Township is traveling to Mali in West Africa
with BwB for 15 days this month. Hess and 13 other volunteers will help
Banbarans (the locals) construct a school in their village. "I care about educa-
tion and opportunities a lot, and I'm excited to go share that with a commu-
nity that doesn't have it," said Hess, who goes to Bloomfield Hills Roeper.
Depending on the heat, volunteers spend three to four hours each day
building the school. The rest of the time is spent in workshops learning about
Mali's agriculture and occupations, and meeting with the village elders.
The one drawback is the communication barrier. "I'm a little worried
about communicating with my host family," said Hess. Banbara is the regional
language. "It's not like French or Spanish where you can figure it out," Hess
said. Luckily, the group will have two translators with them.
Once the volunteers leave, the locals have to finish the
school. Hess said she hopes the school will make an impact after
it's finished. "I'm excited to meet new people and learn from a
different culture," she said. {

Stephanie Steinberg, 17, attends North Farmington High School.

Check it out:

www.summerinthecitydetroit.org • www.buildingwithbooks.org

teen2teen staff •

Tess, Madeline and Laurence

at AmErica's idols

at Madeline's Bat Mitzvah

-

Alexa Eisenberg, Sara Smoler, Rachel Wein (Bloomfield Hills Andover); Jordan Birnholtz, Jessica

Singer (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood); Hannah Cohen (Farmington Harrison); Adina

Applebaum, Rachel Brown, Raquel Cohen, Danielle DePriest, Rachel Margolin (Frankel Jewish

Academy); Avi Buckman (Hillel Day School); Scott Sher, Stephanie Steinberg (North Farmington);

Kale Davidoff, Bridget Labe, Shaye Winer (West Bloomfield); Gabriella Ring (Berkley Norup

International School); David Lehmann, Sarah Spitzer (Yeshivat Akiva).
Photographers: Morgan Pomish (North Farmington), Allie Gold (West Bloomfield)

supervising staff

Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett
Editorial Director: Robert A. Sklar
Executive Editor: Ken Guten Cohen
Contributing Editor: Gail Zimmerman
Copy Editors: David Sachs and Alan Hitsky
Creative Director: Deborah Schultz

Editorial Designer: Lindsay Schwartz
Staff Photographer: Armando Rios
Marketing Director: Kelli Baird
Production Director: Michelle Sheridan
IT Director: Deanna Spivey
Circulation Manager: Barb Yessian

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Sawyer, Andrew and Noah at Madeline's Bat Mitzvah

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