feature
by Claire Sinai
notyour average pb&J
D
uring the week June 24- 28, I
was able to immerse myself
in a life of poverty, hunger
and advocacy along with two other
teens from West Bloomfield, Josh Mo-
rof and Jeremy Sherman, and more
than 70 teens from 49 communities
across the country.
We participated in "PB&J: Poverty,
Bread and Justice," a Jewish teen sum-
mit in Washington, D.C., focusing on
today's most pressing hunger issues.
A program offered by the PANIM
Institute of BBYO, PB&J throws the
cliche model of service (making pea-
nut butter and jelly sandwiches) on its
head. During five days in Washing-
ton, we learned how to create social
change by learning the facts, finding
the need, serving, organizing and fi-
nally advocating.
My peers and I met with food and
poverty policy experts and advocacy
specialists from multiple faith-based
organizations. We even met with staff
from the office of U.S. Sen. Debbie
Stabenow, D-Mich.
To understand the whole story of
food, in addition to learning the statis-
tics and the political context, we also
got to learn firsthand about where
teens learn the politics of food at annual BBYO hunger summit.
food comes from by participating in
hands-on service at Kayam Organic
Farm near Baltimore.
One of our main focuses was food
in family life. We learned that fami-
lies with tight budgets have many
difficulties shopping for groceries.
The most eye-opening experience
was "Making Choices: A Shopping
Simulation." This activity divided us
into smaller groups (families) respon-
sible for shopping for a week's worth
of groceries. We were given $100 at
either a mainstream supermarket or a
convenience store. The activity high-
lighted the true cost of "convenience"
and the sacrifices a family on a tight
budget has to make.
On Capitol Hill, Morof, Sherman
and I expressed our own ideas on how
to repair America's hunger crisis, and
asked that Stabenow pledge support
to the Global Food Security Act and
the Child Nutrition Reauthorization
Act. Our appointment was extremely
beneficial to the learning process of
advocacy; and the enthusiasm we re-
ceived from her staff was inspiring.
Participating in PB&J really re-
minded my peers and I that hun-
ger is pertinent not only around the
social action
Andrew Greenberg, 16, of Longwood, Fla., and Claire Sinai of Huntington Woods plant peppers
at Kayam Organic Farms near Baltimore.
world, but also in our country. One
of four children goes to sleep on an
empty stomach each night around the
world.
With that in mind, we must be the
change we wish to see. We all must
take action, whether it is volunteering
at a soup kitchen, providing kosher
canned goods for Yad Ezra in Berkley
or even donating a little babysitting
money to a hunger organization. Even
the smallest gestures can help thwart
this issue. It is crucial that we work to-
wards a greater goal,
a goal in which every
person is fed. {
Claire Sinai, 17, is a
senior at Berkley High
School.
• to help, go to www.detroitjcrc.org/israel/issues.php?page=23452
by Jessica Kahn
In support of Gilad Shalit ( In
4 years in captivity
poster): FJA Juniors Gadi Kras-
ner, Lizzy Belsky, Jessica Kahn
FJA students view documentary about Shalit family.
p
icture your life if someone
close to you was kidnapped.
Imagine knowing you could
no longer hug this person or tell
them you love them. Imagine
knowing you had no control over
the situation. And what if the per-
son you loved was in the hands of
terrorists?
On June 25, Gilad Shalit's family
has lived this exact nightmare for four
years. Gilad Shalit is a son, a brother, a
grandson and a friend. He is an Israel
Defense Forces soldier who risked his
life to defend his country. He was kid-
napped by Hamas in Israel and taken
away from his family and from his
community.
To spread awareness about Shalit's
captivity, the Israel Advocacy class
at Frankel Jewish Academy in West
Bloomfield held a movie night in sup-
port of the Shalit family.
My classmates and I spent weeks
advertising the movie and educating
others about why it is so important to
support the Shalits. More than 30 stu-
dents from different grades took time
out of their busy schedules to come
learn about the Shalit family and the
and Jenna Lopatin
trauma they cannot escape.
We watched the documentary Fam-
ily in Captivity and tears formed in
the eyes of most students, who for an
hour saw what life for this family has
become. After watching this heart-
wrenching film, students wrote letters
to the Shalit family expressing support
and comfort.
The $25 collected from
this event will be donated
to the Shalit Family Foun-
dation to support its efforts
to bring their son home. It
was an unbelievably mov-
ing experience for all who
attended. Gilad's story will continue to
be shared. {
Jessica Kahn, 17, is a
senior at Frankel
Jewish Academy In
West Bloomfield.
teen2teen July 22 . 2010
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