In This Isue
- New Orleans Trip 2009
- A New Book from BJE!
- Quick Ideas to Show Love
- Back To School Ideas
- A Note from Bubbe Sharon
- Spotlight on Social Action
New Orleans Trip Info
Nov. 19-22, 2009
New Orleans, Louisiana
$665/person*
*based on double occupancy. Special pricing is available for families of 4 or more.About Us
Our Mission:
To educate and engage seniors to do social action;
To empower grandchildren to make the world a better place;
And to create a legacy from one generation to another.
We need your help!!
If we want to provide our large network of seniors across the USA with the best possible opportunities for social action, we need to find out all of the successful things you and your family have done!!
Please send us your stories!
Send an email to our e-Newsletter staff (click here) and you or your grandkids could be the star of our next e-newsletter! Don't worry if you don't want to do the writing, we'll interview you for all the information we need. Thanks so much for your support in making us a success!
Chapters & Affiliated Groups
- Am Shalom
- Anshe Emet
- Beth Emet: The Free Synagogue
- Beth Tikvah Congregation
- B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim
- Congregation Beth Shalom (Naperville)
- Congregation Beth Shalom (Northbrook)
- Congregation B'nai Torah
- Congregation Etz Chaim of DuPage County
- Congregation Sukkat Shalom
- Kol Hadash
- Lakeside Congregation for Reform Judaism
- Temple Beth Israel
- Temple Beth-El (Northbrook)
- Temple Jeremiah
- Temple Sholom of Chicago
- Areyvut
- Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago
- JUF TOV Volunteer Network
- Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI)
- Union for Reform Judaism
Grandparents for Social Action in New Orleans!
Have you signed up yet?
Be part of a social action experience that is
educational, spiritual and fun. Volunteer Expeditions
has joined with Grandparents For Social Action to organize a
mission trip to New Orleans for grandparents (and grandchildren 12+ if
you'd like) featuring well-known Jewish Educator Sharon Morton.
Do some good while having fun! Enjoy the culture of New Orleans while engaging in mitzvah projects that will benefit those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Enjoy the community of other like-minded, young, and lively empty-nesters who want to help to repair the world. Included are all arrangements:
- Private transportation
- Trip host
- Accommodations
- Tours of Jewish New Orleans
- Volunteer experiences
- Outstanding speakers who explain the city culture and challenges
- Breakfast and lunch and dinner each day
- Mitzvah projects
Interested?
Contact Patti Vile at (847) 656-8181 or at patti@volunteerexpeditions.org
Trip Organizer Patti Vile was featured for her work with Volunteer Expeditions in the Chicago Tribune on July 22nd! Click on the Trib logo below to read the article!
Walk the Talk: Jewish Values in Action by Linda Sonin
Last month, we provided you with a great, nutritious cookie recipe from a new book from BJE, the Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago. This month, we hope you'll purchase the book to get plenty more fantastic social action activities and lessons. We've provided you with this short passage to give you a taste of what the book has to offer!
- 25 projects that teach core values
- 100+ suggestions for taking more action to help repair our world
- Reproducible text study sheets and resource materials
- Annotated bibliography of related children’s books
To order,visit the BJE site or call Linda Sonin at (847) 291-7788 x1305.
Quick ideas to show your grandkids your love!
- Write them a thank you note for being such a fabulous grandchild and send in the mail!
- Bring a flower to them to thank them for ____!
- Do a mitzvah yourself and tell them it was in their honor!
- Take them to a meal or for a coke and ask what good thing they did that day.
- Call them to just say you appreciate them!
- Buy a social action book and discuss it with them! (Some of our suggestions...)
WHAT OTHER IDEAS DO YOU HAVE? SEND THEM TO US FOR NEXT MONTH'S NEWSLETTER!!!!!!
Social Action for Back-to-School Season by Sharon Halper
- Have cookies at their door after the first day of school. Then, donate some to a local soup kitchen. Your grandchildren will be exercising their moral imaginations as they enjoy the treat and envision others doing the same!
- Mail or drop-off a special school item. There are always new ones every year! Donate the same item to a local collection and tell your grandchild that another child will also be enjoying the same item. Another exercise for the moral imagination!
Asking Questions and Modeling Behavior
First, ask your grandchild questions so that he or she will learn thinking skills. Don't ask just simple questions to get one word answers. Instead, ask open-ended questions so they have to think. Then, ask probing questions to see how much deeper he or she can go into a subject, particularly a subject about helping others. When they say they don't know the answer, try this. "I know you don't know, but if you did know, what would you say? My son-in-law, a formal principal, taught me that one and it works practically every time. Continue Sharon's note by clicking here.
Here's a few interesting stories and articles we've found:
From makeitbetter.net-- Volunteerism And Kids: The New Golden Rule by Kelly Konrad
From The Huffington Post-- 5-Year-Old Girl Feeds Nearly 18,000 Hungry San Franciscans... What Can You Do? by Toan Lam
