Do you know a Jewish teenager with fantastic leadership skills? The Helen Diller Family Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, which recognize up to 10 Jewish teens for their visionary leadership and volunteerism, awards organizers announced in a national press release. Winners of the award receive $36,000 each.
According to the press release, Bay Area philanthropist Helen Diller founded the awards in 2007 to support California Jewish teens who exemplify the spirit of tikkun olam—a central Jewish precept meaning “to repair the world.” The awards program has since expanded nationally, recognizing 40 Jewish teens across the country with nearly $1.5 million. Last year’s recipients came from California, Iowa, New York, Rhode Island, Missouri and Massachusetts.
“Today’s teens are tomorrow’s leaders. It is our hope that this award will recognize some outstanding young people who are already helping to repair the world,” Diller said in the release. “By celebrating Jewish teens committed to social action in innovative ways, we hope to inspire many more young people to follow their example.”
Any community member who knows the value of the teen’s project —except a family member—can nominate him or her for the award. Candidates must be a U.S. resident between the ages of 13 and 19 at the time of nomination, and must self-identify as Jewish. Teens compensated for their efforts aren’t eligible.
Past award winners have created a wide range of projects supporting various causes, including providing clean drinking water to people living in third world countries, teen-based websites that provide tools and resources for youth to pursue their own community service projects, educational nonprofits that help those living with Autism and Alzheimer’s, and many more.
Nominations can be made online at dillerteenawards.org.
For more information, e-mail dillerteenawards@sfjcf.org or call (415) 512-6432.
This article appears in Oct 10-17, 2013.