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Centennial Super Sunday Spotlight: CSUN Hillel
It's one day after Super Bowl XLV and if you're anything like us at The Wire, you put down a few too many kosher dogs. Join us this coming weekend for Federation's Centennial Super Sunday and burn off those extra calories volunteering! Renée Cohen Goodwin, Executive Director of Hillel at California State University, Northridge, explains how cleaning, painting and building will help inspire Jewish students to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life.
The Wire: Who does your organization help?
Renée Cohen Goodwin: Hillel at CSUN reaches out to Jewish students from all backgrounds and invites them into a pluralistic, welcoming environment in which they are encouraged to explore, question, experiment, and challenge themselves and others. Hillel offers a wide variety of opportunities for students to find meaning in Jewish campus life on their own terms in hopes that those meaningful experiences will inspire each of them to live a rich Jewish life in college and beyond.
The Wire: Describe one specific instance when you felt like your organization's work made a big impact on someone's life.
Renée: There are so many wonderful examples it’s hard to pick just one. The most recent one that comes to mind is a young woman who participated in a Hillel Alternative Break in Miami in January. She returned to campus having had incredible new and powerful experiences: a Shabbat celebration in a community of Jewish students, learning about the Jewish values of Tzedek and tikkun olam, and having the opportunity to apply those values every day for a week as she and 80 of her peers beautified an inner-city elementary school and tutored and mentored its young students. She was so inspired by her Alternative Break experience, she is now back on campus working to establish a team of students who will be doing regular volunteer work at elementary schools here in our own community!
The Wire: How does your organizations work connect with The Federation's priorities of: Caring for Jews in Need, Ensuring the Jewish Future, and Engaging the Community (Jewish or non-Jewish)?
Renée: Hillel’s vision and mission are all about Ensuring the Jewish Future: Our vision is to inspire every Jewish student to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life. Hillel’s mission is to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world.
The Wire: Will volunteers be able to chat with you at the Super Sunday event?
Renée: Yes!
The Wire: What can volunteers expect? Do they need any special clothing/equipment?
Renée: We’ll be cleaning, painting, building furniture, doing yard work, and other messy projects, so wear something you don’t mind getting messy in. For safety, please also wear close-toed shoes.
The Wire: What aspect of Centennial Super Sunday are you most looking forward to, and why?
Renée: We are very much looking forward to having students and community members work together to make our Hillel building more warm and welcoming for students at CSUN. It will be very beneficial for our students to see that the community cares about them and is investing in their home-away-from-home, and it will be wonderful for community members to get to talk to our students and get first-hand accounts of their Jewish campus experiences.
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