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Hillel to Help Rebuild Battered Gulf Coast with Alternative Breaks This Winter
November 11, 2005Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friendHillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life has partnered with the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Gulfport, Miss., to bring 150 students and professionals in January to clean up areas affected by Hurricane Katrina earlier this year.
Hillels at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, University of Toronto, Binghamton University, University of Michigan, Columbia University and Barnard College, Wesleyan University, Brandeis University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, UCLA, University of Georgia, Ryerson University, York University, Cornell University and Broward and Palm Beach, Florida, will be sending students on one of two weeklong alternative breaks running from Jan. 1 to Jan. 15. Hillel's Weinberg Tzedek Hillel program, an international public-service and social-justice project, has organized the initiative with the help of Nechama: Jewish Response to Disaster and the United Jewish Communities.
"Our students were among the first to volunteer for hurricane relief immediately after the storm, and I am so proud that they will be continuing with this essential project during their winter vacations," Hillel President Avraham Infeld said. "They truly embody the Jewish imperative of tikkum olam, repairing the world."
Students will be continuing the work the church has been doing since August in smaller towns just outside of Gulfport, including debris removal, carting trees, basic rebuilding, speaking with residents and cleaning the build-up of mold in people's homes. The church is also working closely with the local Jewish community and other religious institutions to establish an Interfaith Disaster Relief Task Force.
Weinberg Tzedek Hillel is also planning ahead for spring and making arrangements for more students to participate in alternative-break programs in March. For more information, contact Weinberg Tzedek Hillel Director Michelle Lackie.
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