Charitable giving starts young

By Carolyn Dawe, Youth Engagement Officer, WWF-Canada
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend an incredible ceremony at Vancouver’s Talmud Torah school. My visit there started a few months prior when I received a phone call from Maya, a grade 7 student who was doing a fundraising project with her school. Little did I know that this call would introduce me to a school that is going above and beyond to teach young people about charity, giving, compassion, and the difference that they can make in the world.

(C) Carolyn Dawe, WWF-Canada

In their Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) class, seventh grade students take part in the school’s Mitzvah of Valuing Philanthropy (MVP) program which is funded through an endowment, as well as Bar/Bat Mitzvah gifts from the students and donations from community members. Every student in grade 7 is tasked with selecting and researching a charity as the focus of their project. They then must interview a representative of the organization, put together a poster, and present it to their class. At the end of it all, the students are responsible for distributing the class allocation of the endowment funds to the various charities.
While the purpose of Maya’s visit to the WWF office was to learn from me, I didn’t anticipate how much I would learn from her and the other students at Talmud Torah. During the Ceremony of Giving, the students allocated $19,252 to 33 charities, of which WWF received a generous $500. In front of hundreds of people, each student spoke about the transformative effect that this program had on their life. They spoke about the various reasons that they chose their charity, and what that charity has come to mean to them. They spoke eloquently, with maturity, and they certainly they gave goose-bumps to everyone in the room who was lucky enough to attend. After each student spoke, they invited the representative from their charity to come and say a few words. For those who had chosen a charity overseas, video’s were sent in and watched on the big-screen. It was impressive, and it was an uplifting and wonderful day.
With all the negative news about the state of the world, the economy, the environment etc. it is amazing to have the opportunity to meet kids like Maya who are part of a generation who want more and who are thinking about what they can offer, rather than what will be offered them. In the end, their generosity will only continue to grow, and this lesson will stick with them for a lifetime.