22 | JULY 21 • 2022
R
epair the World
Detroit nominated
Abby Rubin, 31, of
Detroit as Volunteer of the
Week for her passion to give
back.
“
As a Repair the World
Detroit alumna and in her
involvement with NEXTGen
Detroit, Abby has created
many opportunities to engage
and create positive change
in our Detroit and Jewish
community,” said Rebecca
Steinman-DeGroot, city
director of Repair the World
Detroit.
Rubin says that growing up
in Cleveland, Ohio, her family
taught her at a young age that
giving back was a core value.
“I used to do telethons
through Super Sunday at
the Jewish Federation in
Cleveland,” Rubin explained.
“But since I was so little,
and my voice sounded so
young, no one ever wanted
to give me money. So, I con-
tinued to help where I could.
Whether that was collecting
donation cards from people
or just checking in with the
adults to see where I could
offer my hand.”
Volunteering and help-
ing wherever is needed just
became part of Rubin’s life.
“I grew up in such a fortu-
nate space. Being a part of a
lovely Jewish community in
Cleveland that looks very sim-
ilar to the one in Detroit, I got
to go to Camp Wise (Jewish
overnight camp in Cleveland)
as a camper then became a
staff member. I was there for
17 summers.”
Rubin says she was aware of
the privilege she had growing
up and wanted to give back to
the world what she was given.
In 2014, Rubin made the
jump to move to Detroit.
“I was in the second cohort
of the national fellowship as a
Repair the World Education
Fellow in 2014, and I applied
to go to Pittsburgh. But
since I went to University of
Michigan for school, they
thought I would know so
much more about Detroit, so I
was placed here.”
Rubin said she was terri-
fied, knowing nothing about
Detroit at the time. But when
she moved here that quickly
changed. “I moved here to vol-
unteer for a year, and I abso-
lutely fell in love,” she said.
During her first year, Rubin
learned about the education
system in Detroit, volunteered
and ran different volunteer
programs at five different
afterschool programs. She also
got involved with the Jewish
Federation of Metro Detroit
and the rest was history.
“NEXTGen Detroit is the
reason that I’m still in Detroit.
If I hadn’t made the connec-
tions with the staff and the
community that I built when
I was a Repair the World
Fellow, I would have still loved
my time here, but I wouldn’t
have stayed.”
Rubin says she originally
planned to move to Chicago
after her fellowship. Now
she lives in Detroit, working
as a children’s librarian at
the Westland Public Library
while building relationships
through NEXTGen Detroit as
vice president of the executive
board.
Rubin says she’s in Detroit
to stay and encourages those
who have the time to come
out to a NEXTGen Detroit
volunteer event.
To learn about more volunteer events
through NEXTGen Detroit visit https://
jlive.app.
If you would like to nominate some-
one to be the next volunteer of the
week, send a nomination with a short
paragraph telling us why to socialme-
dia@thejewishnews.com.
TOP: NEXTGen Detroit Volunteers at Cadillac Urban Gardens in
Southwest Detroit. MIDDLE: Alana Silver, Abby Rubin, Cameron Billes,
and Stephanie Hollander at Michigan Urban Farming Initiative.
BOTTOM, LEFT: Abby Rubin and Shimon Gal Levy at the Art of Giving
at Next Space Ferndale. BOTTOM, MIDDLE: Abby Rubin and Abi
Berlin painting a rec center in Detroit. BOTTOM, RIGHT: Abby Rubin
at Urbanrest Brewery Company during the snuffle matt making project
benefitting foster dogs.
Meet Abby Rubin, who gives back to the community what she was given.
Volunteering is a Core Value
RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR
OUR COMMUNITY
VOLUNTEER OF THE WEEK