Apr 23, 2015
Jewish Volunteer Center Honors Three Outstanding Volunteers
Each year the Jewish Volunteer Center (JVC) of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation honors an adult and a teen volunteer for their outstanding service to Miami’s Jewish community. This annual award recognizes and honors the efforts of people in the community who are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of others and improving the world through volunteerism.
Pictured: Romina Naparstek and Francine Safdeye
Winners of the JVC Outstanding Volunteer Award are chosen based on:
Pictured: Ahava Greenbaum
• Volunteer leadership and commitment to the Jewish community
• Innovation of their service
• Scope and depth of their service
• Impact of their work on the community
• Extent of their ingenuity and creativity
Volunteers are nominated by synagogues, schools, service agencies and individuals. We are pleased to announce that this year the JVC will be honoring two adults and one teen who have made an impact on our community through their volunteer work.
The 2015 Outstanding Volunteer Award honorees are: Romina Naparstek and Francine Safdeye , who together have done important work spearheading Limmud Miami, an annual Jewish learning festival, for the past two years.
Limmud is the Hebrew word for learning. It is a fresh, innovative kind of Jewish learning and culture festival. An experience that expands the Jewish horizon as part of a worldwide movement from London to Los Angeles, from Boston to Buenos Aires, from Istanbul to Jerusalem to China to India and now in Miami. Limmud is completely volunteer run and participant driven. Romina and Francine, with the support of Federation, planned Limmud Miami from scratch. Just two years ago, Limmud did not exist in Miami. They built their own community of volunteers to plan the day, set the program, researched presenters, reserved the location, raised the dollars, created the marketing and social media and recruited the “volunticpants.” This year, Limmud Miami brought together 1,000 participants for this extraordinary day. You can learn more about Limmud Miami and the work of Romina and Francine by clicking here.
Eighth grader Ahava Greenbaum is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Teen Volunteer Award. Ahava has completed over 600 volunteer hours in the last year working with many organizations including the Michael Ann-Russell Jewish Community Center, Chabad Gan Israel summer camp, Hochberg Preps Camp Simcha, winter basketball camps and throughout the school year at special events. Most notably, Ahava has pioneered two initiative’s “Points for Love” and “Wheels and Waves." These programs combine what Ahava really loves, sports like basketball, the special needs community and music. You can read more about Ahava by clicking here.
All three outstanding volunteers were recently honored at Federation’s Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, April 16.
The JVC is the central clearinghouse for volunteerism in Miami’s Jewish community, and is a resource for individuals, families and groups who would like to get involved and help local nonprofit organizations. For more information, or if you would like to learn about volunteer opportunities please contact Lori Tabachnikoff, Director of the Jewish Volunteer Center at 786.866.8680 or email [email protected].
