Zoe's Thoughts from J.Team

Posted on Monday Dec 28, 2009 3:07 PM

I joined J.Team because I am interested in gaining more skills to learn how to help improve the lives of those in need. From a young age my parents taught me the importance of Tikkun Olam-Repairing the World.    We are obligated to make the world a better place.  It starts with us, moves on to our family, our community, and to our whole world.  Every human being, no matter what their color, religion, sexual orientation, or nationality deserves to have good health, education, social services for their needs, and a clean living environment.

During our December 13th J.Team session, we talked about values and the importance of using one’s personal values to then assess if his or her values align better with a particular non-profit. Learning about our individual values will greatly help and guide us when we have to pick which non-profits to give grants to at the end of the year. The process of picking my top three values was extremely difficult because there are so many that I live by. In the end, I decided that three of my most guiding values in my life are: 1. Doing righteous acts/charity, 2. Compassion, and 3. Tolerance.   The values I picked were not surprising to me because I strongly feel obligated to help others that have not been as fortunate as me. These values all relate to looking outside myself, and finding ways to help others.
 
After leaving the last J.Team session, I have thought about how important it is for everyone to live by and incorporate values when making decisions. By keeping one’s values in mind at all times, it can become easier to make the right decision.
 
I learned quite a bit from the site visit to First Place School.  This nonprofit organization seems to make a tremendously positive impact on the homeless children and families they serve.
 
At the end of the J.Team meeting, we narrowed down the nonprofit agency list to finalize the six agencies we will review in order to decide which agencies best meet our criteria. I look forward to the process of assessing the six agencies as well as continue our site visits to nonprofit organizations.
Author: 
Zoe
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