Taylor Chaskelberg, left, and Amanda Amabile, both of Marlboro, collect donations during J-Serve on April 26.
Photo courtesy Cory Bolotsky
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A volunteer’s car holds a small portion of the food items collected during J-Serve on April 26.
Photo courtesy Cory Bolotsky
Cory Bolotsky of Manalapan, left, BBYO council vice president of community service and a founder of Change We Can Taste, attended the BBYO international convention in February in Long Branch. Among other New Jersey conventioneers were Spencer Israel of East Brunswick and, from left, Amy Nussbaum of Randolph, Elizabeth Rosin of Freehold, and Melissa Kansky of Livingston.
Photo by Jill Huber
May 26, 2009
More than 100 teens from Monmouth County participated in BBYO J-Serve, a national day of volunteerism on April 26 that represented the organization’s commitment to community service and tikun olam.
Sixty-five teens from Manalapan, 65 from Marlboro, and 25 from Ocean Township joined thousands of their peers throughout the country in the fourth annual day of service.
The volunteers helped collect more than 6,000 pounds of food items that were donated to the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Monmouth County.
The J-Serve participants, all between the age of 12 and 18, were proud to dedicate the day to improving the lives of others, said Cory Bolotsky, 17, of Manalapan, BBYO council vice president of community service.
“It’s amazing to see what teens can do in a few hours,” he told NJ Jewish News. “Our extraordinary successes on J-Serve show the power of teens and how BBYO’s focus on community service will be instilled in them for the rest of their lives.
“Our generation will be the world’s next leaders, and through the great projects BBYO and other organizations host, I’m sure we’ll have a bright future.”
Cory is a founder of Change We Can Taste, a program begun by the Greater Jersey BBYO in January to collect food and hygiene items for those in need.
This year’s J-Serve project was an extension of Change We Can Taste, which was initiated as part of President Barack Obama’s call for community service and social action, Cory said, adding that the economic downturn also was an incentive.
“I helped found it because it was my time to step up and help others,” Cory told NJJN. “BBYO has seen a huge jump in event scholarships, and we all know a lot of people are losing jobs and having trouble purchasing food. I concluded that this type of ongoing food drive was 100 percent necessary.”
‘Believe in your power’
The volunteers distributed J-Serve flyers to patrons entering ShopRite in Freehold and Marlboro, A&P in Marlboro and East Brunswick, and Foodtown in Oakhurst. Hundreds of shoppers emerged with items to donate, Cory said.
Community service and social action evoke their own rewards, he added.
“You can see the positive results,” said Cory, a junior at Manalapan High School and a member of Congregation Sons of Israel in Manalapan. “You know you can’t change everything, but you can believe in your power to create social change. As Jews, it’s our personal responsibility to make the world a better place.”
J-Serve 2009 was a collaboration of BBYO’s Hudson River Region, Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, the Jewish Coalition for Service, and other partner agencies.
“What makes J-Serve so powerful is that it enables the entire Jewish community to act in a unified fashion, transcending denominational and institutional lines,” said Rabbi Sid Schwarz, Panim president and founder. “It makes teens aware that through service, they can be positive-change agents, fulfilling Jewish mandates to bring tzedek to the world.”
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