PJ Gives Back Best Practices - Chicago
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Transcript of PJ Gives Back Best Practices - Chicago
1 | P J G i v e s B a c k , C h i c a g o
Chicago
PJ Gives Back is a series of four programs, in partnership with Jewish community day
schools, that focus on specific mitzvot (good deeds). With values of Jewish
responsibility, justice, and acts of kindness, each program brings together families for
fun activities with a big impact. PJ Gives Back programs are geared towards PJ Library
families with children ages 8 and under.
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JUF’s Young Family Engagement Department, in collaboration with JUF’s Tikkun Olam
Volunteer Network (TOV), debuted Hands on Heroes, a program that offers one-time
volunteer opportunities that match up families with local agencies in Fall 2012. PJ Gives
Back programs were created in Fall 2013 as a way to expand upon the success and
limitations of Hands on Heroes volunteer opportunities. Hands on Heroes offered
limited spots at local agencies; some projects had age restrictions; and they didn’t always
provide an avenue for families to meet new families, learn about the mitzvah their
family was participating in, and engage in learning and discussion with their children
about tikkun olam. By creating a new program whose content and implementation was
directed by JUF’s Young Family Engagement staff, we were given greater control and
opportunity to teach and involve families in hands-on volunteer experiences to help
repair the world.
This program expansion was enabled by a generous grant from a local funder. PJ Gives
Back programs partnered with 4 Jewish community day schools in Chicago. The
partnerships were fruitful for both institutions in that the day schools used the programs
as a recruitment tool, and JUF utilized the help, resources, and expertise of school staff,
parents, alumni, and other volunteers.
The themes of each program were based on successful and relevant mitzvot that families
engaged in with Hands on Heroes. Those themes were: hunger (ma’achil r’eivim),
helping children in need (chesed), literacy, and the environment/animals (shmirat
ha’adamah/tzaar ba’alei hayim). Efforts were also made to match the mitzvot to each
school’s curriculum and select volunteer agencies that were geographically close to the
day schools or that had special significance to them.
Each program was approximately an hour and a half and was made up of two major
components: entertainment that tied in with the mitzvah theme and the volunteer
project.
Entertainment Each program began with a short entertainment segment (approximately 30-40
minutes). Our first three programs had interactive storytelling and storyacting
featuring PJ Library books and the theme of the program (hunger, sharing, and
literacy). For example, at PJ Feeds: Helping the Hungry, we brought in PJ
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Library author Aubrey Davis, who told favorites like Bagels from Benny, Bone
Button Borscht, and The Enormous Potato. Our last program will feature an
interactive animal show that talks about how to care for animals and the
environment through a Jewish lens. We have found that by beginning with the
entertainment, it gets the children excited for the volunteer project they’re about
to participate in.
Volunteer Project In the second half of each program, families participated in a volunteer project to
be donated to a local agency (both Jewish and non-Jewish). At PJ Feeds: Helping
the Hungry, families made sandwiches and cards and packed sack lunches for a
local food pantry. At PJ Shares: Helping those in Need, families decorated
pajama bags and cards and packed care packages for Chai Lifeline, a national
organization that helps critically ill children and their families. At PJ Reads:
Promoting Literacy, families stickered and sorted books and made bookmarks
for a local children’s book distribution center. At our last event, families will
plant and harvest microgreens with a local Jewish community farm and
environmental education center. In addition to a very nominal event fee ($10),
we asked families to bring themed donations – canned and dried goods, pajamas,
gently used children’s books, and dog and cat food.
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Mitzvah Hero Photos Building off of the hero branding that we used in Hands on Heroes, we
continued using the imagery for PJ Gives Back in our marketing and
programming content, including our flyers and photo opportunities. We worked
with a local Jewish Teacher’s Resource Center to design and create a boy and girl
superhero photo board that could be used as a photo and branding opportunity
at events. Families can easily snap shots of their kids as JUF mitzvah heroes and
post them directly on Facebook.
Tour of Day School One benefit that most of the day schools enjoyed was hosting the program in
their space. This helped families get to know the school, its staff, and the
resources they offer to parents making pre-school and day school decisions.
Optional tours of the school were available for families interested in viewing the
classroom spaces and talking with staff about enrollment.
After each event, a survey was sent to all families who participated and there was
overwhelmingly positive feedback about the programs. The survey touches on a
family’s reason for attending, their Jewish experience at the event, their satisfaction with
the event and likelihood to attend another, as well as questions pertaining to our
partnership with the day schools.
100% of respondents indicated that one of their major reasons for attending was
so that they could participate in a hands-on volunteer experience for the whole
family.
90% of respondents had a blast at the event.
57% of respondents felt a connection with other Jewish families attending the
program.
95% of respondents learned more about the mitzvah they were participating in.
71% of respondents were encouraged to talk about the mitzvah they participated
in at home after the program was over.
5 | P J G i v e s B a c k , C h i c a g o
Great way to introduce kids to doing mitzvot; the act of doing something simple that helps others.
We loved everything – perfect set of activities, timing for our kids, and helped us to continue
teaching our kids about giving back to others, which is supper important to us!
This one was perfect for a variety of ages, even for preschoolers. The fact that you went above and
beyond to also make it entertaining for the kids made it a perfect blend of volunteering/fun for our
family.
Contact Deborah Shub, Program Associate, Young Family Engagement at
[email protected] or 312-444-2844.
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