Tuesday, May 13, 2008

covenant house

Covenant house is a place that helps teenagers that are on the street because of abuse or homelessness or other problems.  Covenant House takes the teens in, gives them a place to stay, gives them food and shelter, and collects toys, games, clothes, and other things that these teenagers need. Covenant House Vancouver opened in September 1997 in response to a study reporting that British Columbia had more than 10,000 runaways annually.  

 

The Vancouver Covenant House helps teenagers by providing them with food, clothing, shelter and counseling to the about 1,000 street youth in Vancouver.

 

I chose this because Bayle, who is working with me, already has some knowledge about it and I feel I can connect to it because Covenant House helps teenagers who are around my age.  I also think it is not fair to leave kids homeless just because they were born to a bad family.  I hope that if I had that problem, someone would help me.

 

To support this organization young people can volunteer in the kitchens or other things they need help with.  They can also help out with some of the safer teenagers in the Covenant House.  You can also donate old clothes and games that you aren’t using.  You can just be friendly and nice to a person your age to try and cheer them up and give them support.  Kids can help raise awareness so that other people might help too.

-Sam


Tikkun Olam

Richmond Mental Health Consumer and Friends Society

By Alex and Aviva

The organization we chose is the Richmond Mental Health Consumer and Friends Society. This organization provides individual assistance to people who are recovering from a mental health illness and are receiving mental health services. The assistance will help people who take advantage of the programs to enhance their lives and succeed in reaching their personal goals. The assistance is provided by peer support workers who have been trained and have personal experiences with mental health illness. All of the workers provide support and encouragement in the stages of recovery from mental health illnesses. The relationship between a peer and a support worker usually lasts sixth months or until their goals are reached.

We chose this organization because we wanted to raise awareness about mental health illness. We felt that by volunteering at Richmond Mental Health Consumer and Friends Society we would be able to understand what it is like to live with a mental illness. We also wanted to understand the purpose of this organization by being able to meet people who have overcome their mental illness and have made strides toward reaching their personal goals.

Young people can help this organization by participating in daily activities such as going on walks, helping to make the participants lunches, playing fun games and drawing with them. We are also participating in weekly sessions’ along with Alex’s mother to learn how to improve people with mental illnesses life styles.

The main purpose of this project is to learn a way in which we can make a difference in the world. One way of reaching our goal is to help the people with mental illnesses overcome their problems. Hopefully we will be able to touch some of these people and help in some small way to improve their lives.

We are very excited to be involved in this important project. We are going to be able to help people and have fun at the same time. If everyone in our class just does a small mitzvah it will help make other peoples lives a little better.

Interview summary

Interview Summary

By Benny

 

Today I interviewed Harry Reay. In this engaging interview process, involving past, present and future, I discovered that drawing, reading, watching T.V., and playing video games aren’t Harry’s only extra curricular activities.  His main ones are floor hockey and ice-skating.

 

IN this intriguing conversation I found out that one of his sports, skating, runs in the family and that Harry is not planning to stop that.  He has also made the effort to help his little brother and sister with their skating as well.

 

With his hockey skills and skating speed his un-injured career is going strong and is not going to stop any time soon. Even though Harry can’t practice these sports at home, he still manages to perform his best in his 1½ hours of playing these sports a week. When this short hour and a half elapses, Harry doesn’t wish to fill his spare time with other sports because he loves his current ones so much.

 

One thing that I learned about Harry in this interview is that his love for his activities is extremely remarkable, and that it would be hard for anyone to match his passion and determination for the games he plays.


-Benny

My Tikkun Olam Summary

JFSA

 

I picked the JFSA. Founded in 1936, is a non-profit social service organization, which helps the Jewish community of the lower mainland. They provide items that are useful for Jews. They help Jews any way they can. They help over 7000 people annually.

 

They help Jews with what they need, and help the less unfortunate Jews. It is a good resource for Jews that need financial aid or if you are a senior. They help children and find people jobs.

 

I chose JFSA because I wanted to help someone that I could relate to. I also know

 people whom they have helped, and seen how they treated them. It shows me how they help, so I want to be a part of it.

 

There are many ways of volunteering at JFSA. Such as Administration Support, Friendly visitors, JFSA Board Member, Shopping Assistance, Special events, and Transportation services. You could also raise awareness or raise money.

 

 

 

Thanks For Reading!!! JaCoB

Tikkun Olam- By Fanny D.

BC Children's Hospital Foundation (BCCHF)

The BC Children's Hospital is an organization that helps kids all over BC with all sorts of medical issues and injuries, such as cancer, rehabilitation, terminal illnesses, Down syndrome, broken or fractured bones and muscles tears,rips and pulls. They have many volunteers for kids with terminal illnesses and kids in rehab. Kids can volunteer there as well as adults. There are many jobs kids can do there like help clean up waiting rooms, talk to younger kids and make them feel good and so on. The hospital also cares for all their patients to the best of their abilities which are excellent.

I chose this cause because they have many ways to donate, volunteer, they have great doctors and nurses and they are repairing they world by helping sick kids get better faster and easier. Like i said before they have many ways to donate. Some ways are: blankets, clothes, shoes, bracelets, movies, toys, blood, organs and of course your time and money. Another reason I chose this cause is because it is easy to get involved and to donate. I think BCCHF has done amazing things for children ad will only get better at helping children across BC.

Did you know...
BC Children’s Hospital receives more than 168,000 visits by patients each year from sick and injured children from across the province.
We are the only pediatric health centre and teaching hospital in B.C., and the largest full-service child health centre in Canada.
11,000 children in B.C. require surgery for life-threatening injury and illness. The number continues to grow.
1,100 children are treated each year at BC Children’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the only one in the province.
In 2006/07, 37,653 children visited BC Children’s Emergency Room. That’s more than 103 sick kids every day.
400 children and their families visit BC Children’s for treatment and care every day.
200 open-heart surgeries are performed every year. Twenty-five per cent of those difficult surgeries are performed on patients younger than one year old.
BC Children’s Hospital has the most comprehensive renal team in western Canada and performs an average of 14 kidney transplants each year.
There are 150 newly diagnosed cases of childhood cancer in the province each year. BC Children’s treats more than 8,000 youngsters with cancer on an outpatient basis.
Nearly 20 bone marrow transplants are performed each year at BC Children’s Hospital.
One in every 100 children in B.C. is born with heart disease, and all of them are treated at BC Children’s Hospital.
54,000 diagnostic imaging procedures are conducted in Radiology, which operates the only pediatric MRI scanner in B.C.
2,345,492 laboratory tests are conducted and 261,075 prescriptions are filled each year at BC Children’s Hospital.
These facts were taken directly from the sight because I couldn't choose which to tale and which to leave.

Tikkun Olam

Tikkun Olam

By Benny

 

Variety club is an organization that distributes much needed funding to children, and their families, with special needs throughout B.C.. Variety receives over 1,000 requests for financial assistance, medical emergencies, therapies, and equipment yearly. Variety tries to grant all these wishes with there constant volunteer work, emergency response funds, community fund raisers, and there major yearly events, such as: The Show of Hearts Telethon, BC Bowls for Kids, Children’s Radio-thons, Gold Heart Day, and Boat for Hope. Just to name a few.

 

 

Not only does Variety encourage and support young volunteers, but it goes the extra mile with having its own program, Young Variety. This program provides opportunities to young adults (19-29) to improve on there leadership and networking skills. Even though people under the age of 19 cant participate the program, Variety still opens its doors to young children who would like to volunteer, and gives support and learning experiences that will expand there charitable horizons for there future.

 

 

I proudly chose this cause for many reasons, but one unparticular was that my family has bean involved in this organization for many generations. Starting with my great grandfather, Irving Levenson, who was president of Variety for many years. Now me, and I’m trying to make my mark in Variety starting this year with my Tikkun Olam project.


-Benny

aids

Aids
By: Aleesha and Adi


What the Organization Does

The organization is called: The Association of Neighbourhood Houses of Greater Vancouver (ANH).ANH was originally founded in 1894, in England. In B.C., ANH has opened a hospital, an orphanage, a “fresh-air camp,” a neighbourhood house and more recently an association of seven neighbourhoods’ houses and outdoor center

What the cause is.

Our cause is aids. Aids is caused by a virus called HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Some people get fever, headache, sore muscles and joints, stomach ache, swollen lymph glands, or a skin rash for one or two weeks. The virus will multiply in your body for a few weeks or even months before your immune system responds. There is no cure for AIDS. There are drugs that can slow down the HIV virus, and slow down the damage to your immune system. There is no way to "clear out" HIV from the body.

Why did we choose this cause?

We choose this cause because we knew what it does to people. Also it affects a huge part of the population. We thought that it would be an amazing experience to really understand what aids is, and learn more about it. Also to help out the children that are infected with the HIV virus.
What can young people do besides raising money?

Young people can help the organization by doing things like:

1. volunteer as a tutor,

2. be a mentor,

3. become a peer tutor,

4. volunteer as a cook,

5. Play with the kids,

6. Make bracelets,

7. playing with them,

and drawing with them.

2.

Harry and Tomers' Tikkun Olam essay part 1

For our Tikkun Olam Project, we chose the St Paul’s Hospital. St Paul’s is BC’s only centre for highly specialized services like heart transplants and hearing implants. St Paul’s Hospital Foundation raised a record $10.11 million for equipment, research and patient care in 2006 through 2007. Also, St Paul’s is a main teaching hospital located in downtown Vancouver. The hospital is part of PHC (Province Health Care); the biggest group of wide spreading operated health care facilities in Canada.

St Paul’s Hospital Foundation is a registered charity that raises funds for medical equipment, medicine research and superior patient care at St Paul’s and helps to cultivate relationships and partnerships in Vancouver's community to generate financial and related resources to improve St Paul's capability to help people.

St Paul’s Hospital Foundation raises funds for equipment, research and improved patient care. St Paul's current needs include funds for special initiatives in the Heart Centre/ Providence Heart and Lung Institute at St Paul’s Hospital, the Emergency Department, Palliative Care and the Providence Health Care Research Institute. St Paul’s also provides education grants for nurses.

Kids can help by donating any amount of money, which makes a big difference around the hospital. If you want to volunteer at the hospital's special events, please call 604-682-8206.If you want to help/ volunteer around the hospital, please call 604-806-8279 for more info.

So help St Paul’s Hospital today!!!

U.B.C. Farm at the University of British Columbia

The main purpose of the farm is to keep and re-create existing farm and forest lands at the University of British Columbia into an internationally important center for agriculture, forestry and food systems that can be self sufficient.

I chose this organization because I think it is important to keep our earth, living and healthy. I also enjoy getting dirty, using my hands and working hard.

Young people like me can support U.B.C. Farms by going there and either planting and/or picking the crops rather than just donating money. This is how the organization builds a strong, local community.

I can make a difference, by proving that doing helpful deeds can make the world a more enriched and healthy place to live.

The class may be interested to know, that every Saturday from June 4th to September 24th, between 9am and 1pm the U.B.C. Farm holds a market where one can buy 60 different types of produce that has been grown on their land.

Marc L. 6A

Matt&Noah's Tikkun Olam Summery

Matthew and Noah chose Special Olympics because it is a world wide organization made to help people with intellectual disabilities create self-confidence, social skills and makes them feel proud from their personal accomplishments. On top of their daily activities, Special Olympics host the Special Olympics World Games every four years. More than 2.5 million athletes of all ages participate in Special Olympics sports training and compete in more than 180 different countries. The organization offers a whole year of training and competitions in 30 Olympic summer and winter sports.

Special Olympics cause is to help people with disabilities participate in world wide games. Special Olympics enrich people with disabilities to have the experience of participating in sports. This organization allows individuals to compete with people that are like them. They get the chance to feel the emotions of winning, losing and to compete, which probably is a new experience for them. Noah and Matt are going to interview one of the athletes and get to tell you the experience of a real athlete in the Special Olympics.

Matthew and Noah wanted to experience what its like to help people different from us using our sports skills. So we found the Special Olympics organization. Matthew and I thought this was a very powerful organization that we can relate to (sports wise). Matthew and I wanted to choose an organization that we could physically meet and help the people we are helping, and that is why we chose the Special Olympics organization.

Matthew and Noah are not giving money we are going to physically help and get to play with these athletes that aren’t like us. Noah and I are going to have a great time participating and meeting these people. We are excited to get involved in this organization and leave wit a new experience. We are looking forward to helping these people in this organization.

By: Matthew & Noah 6A

Hey Mr. G this is Sari and Galia's tikkon olam project.

The Lipstick Brigade

I wash my hair every day, I clean my body every day and I brush my teeth every day twice a day. Imagine not being able to wash your hair, to clean your body or even to brush your teeth. You might not realize it but in this world there are people who can’t afford these simple cosmetics. The organization I am participating in is called The Lipstick Brigade. The Lipstick Brigade collects cosmetics and donates them to homeless shelters. People can go to the homeless shelter and use the cosmetics, feel good and not be ashamed about the way they look, or unhappy about the way they feel.

I chose this organization because whenever I brush my hair in the morning with a simple brush I feel good about myself and ready for the new day. When I heard about how some people can’t afford simple brushes like mine I didn’t think it was fair because I think it is important for everyone to be able to have personal hygiene. That is why I decided to help out with the Lipstick Brigade.

Young people can help the Lipstick Brigade, by volunteering their time, not by raising money. Two examples of giving their time are: They can help organize, package and distribute the cosmetics donated by other people. They can also help by spreading the word to friends and family, asking them that when they go away to a hotel to bring back the little bottles of shampoo, soap and conditioner. There are many other ways kids can help the Lipstick Brigade. All it takes is a little creative thinking and a few hours.

Galia Horwitz+Sari pullan 6B

The Lipstick Brigade

I wash my hair every day, I clean my body every day and I brush my teeth every day twice a day. Imagine not being able to wash your hair, to clean your body or even to brush your teeth. You might not realize it but in this world there are people who can’t afford these simple cosmetics. The organization I am participating in is called The Lipstick Brigade. The Lipstick Brigade collects cosmetics and donates them to homeless shelters. People can go to the homeless shelter and use the cosmetics, feel good and not be ashamed about the way they look, or unhappy about the way they feel.

I chose this organization because whenever I brush my hair in the morning with a simple brush I feel good about myself and ready for the new day. When I heard about how some people can’t afford simple brushes like mine I didn’t think it was fair because I think it is important for everyone to be able to have personal hygiene. That is why I decided to help out with the Lipstick Brigade.

Young people can help the Lipstick Brigade, by volunteering their time, not by raising money. Two examples of giving their time are: They can help organize, package and distribute the cosmetics donated by other people. They can also help by spreading the word to friends and family, asking them that when they go away to a hotel to bring back the little bottles of shampoo, soap and conditioner. There are many other ways kids can help the Lipstick Brigade. All it takes is a little creative thinking and a few hours.

Galia Horwitz+Sari pullan 6B

St. Paul's Hospital by Adina

Description of Saint Paul’s Hospital Foundation

The St. Paul's Hospital Foundation raises money to purchase equipment for patients, support research and advance patients care at Saint Paul’s hospital. Saint Paul’s hospital is an academic health science center in downtown Vancouver. Saint Paul’s hospital serves patients from downtown Vancouver, the city of Vancouver and the entire province. Saint Paul’s hospital specializes in five main areas. These are HIV/ AIDS, cardiac disease, renal disease, elder care and mental health. In addition to looking after patients Saint Paul’s hospital is a center for research and medical education. The Saint Paul’s hospital foundation raises money to support all these areas.

I decided to choose Saint Paul’s hospital foundation because I am familiar with the work they perform because my dad works there. Another reason I chose Saint Paul’s is because I wanted to find a way to help people who are ill. I hope that by me helping out at the foundation I can help make a difference in these people’s lives.

At Saint Paul’s kid are not allowed to directly help out with patients for numerous reasons. But there is much more kids can do than helping patients directly. The Saint Paul’s foundation raises money which goes to help patients. In order to do this they have to do a lot of office work. This includes sending mail outs, filing things, phoning people, designing pamphlets and other forms of advertising. Kids can help with all of these activities.

My plan is to volunteer my time there helping them with these fund raising activities. I want to be there to help with what ever they want me to do and I am going to bring work home so I can get even more work done. I am also planning to bake goods and sell them, then give the money to the foundation for them to improve the emergency room which is very old and needs to be renovated.

So far I have already learned a lot about Saint Paul’s hospital ; I know now what they do to help people and what they need to improve on. I am very happy I chose this foundation because I am confident that what they do is very important.