Making a Difference One Step at a Time

Lilly & Michele

By Teen Member Lilly Day

On Thursday, August 6th a group of very interested New Shul members met to discuss what they could do to improve the lives of so many people who are suffering in our world today. While learning about a woman who changed the lives of hundreds in Kenya by building only two wells filled with clean water, our remarkable Ellen Gould was inspired to bring the members of The New Shul together to talk about how we could reach out to places in need. As we sat in a circle in Ellen’s apartment we discussed how in order for populations in starving societies to become healthy, and from that communities to flourish, clean water was an absolute necessity. The concept of taking world issues into our own hands sparked ideas instantly and we began to think about helping by doing something local and hands on or if we were capable of achieving something global. With so many artistic members a common idea was that we should either raise money by doing something artistic or create something that could benefit the people we chose to help. We thought about both the micro and macro aspects of the project we had all agreed to dive into, and doing so lead us to think about other ways we could better the lives of those closer to home.

All of us are aware that people suffer everywhere, and although we don’t like to admit it, there are many who do right here in New York City. With our minds glued to the idea of making the lives of suffering people more enjoyable we decided that we would visit shelters and soup kitchens more often and offer up our time and talents to those who will really benefit from them. As excited members we agreed that making a commitment together to take initiative and do something with the potential of being really spectacular was better to do nothing and just hope that things would change. After all, as Ellen says: If we are not doing justice than what are we?

Editors Note: If you would like to get involved in our social action projects, please email the office.