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Chicago

PJ Gives Back is a series of four programs, in partnership with Jewish community day

schools, that focus on specific mitzvot (good deeds). With values of Jewish

responsibility, justice, and acts of kindness, each program brings together families for

fun activities with a big impact. PJ Gives Back programs are geared towards PJ Library

families with children ages 8 and under.

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JUF’s Young Family Engagement Department, in collaboration with JUF’s Tikkun Olam

Volunteer Network (TOV), debuted Hands on Heroes, a program that offers one-time

volunteer opportunities that match up families with local agencies in Fall 2012. PJ Gives

Back programs were created in Fall 2013 as a way to expand upon the success and

limitations of Hands on Heroes volunteer opportunities. Hands on Heroes offered

limited spots at local agencies; some projects had age restrictions; and they didn’t always

provide an avenue for families to meet new families, learn about the mitzvah their

family was participating in, and engage in learning and discussion with their children

about tikkun olam. By creating a new program whose content and implementation was

directed by JUF’s Young Family Engagement staff, we were given greater control and

opportunity to teach and involve families in hands-on volunteer experiences to help

repair the world.

This program expansion was enabled by a generous grant from a local funder. PJ Gives

Back programs partnered with 4 Jewish community day schools in Chicago. The

partnerships were fruitful for both institutions in that the day schools used the programs

as a recruitment tool, and JUF utilized the help, resources, and expertise of school staff,

parents, alumni, and other volunteers.

The themes of each program were based on successful and relevant mitzvot that families

engaged in with Hands on Heroes. Those themes were: hunger (ma’achil r’eivim),

helping children in need (chesed), literacy, and the environment/animals (shmirat

ha’adamah/tzaar ba’alei hayim). Efforts were also made to match the mitzvot to each

school’s curriculum and select volunteer agencies that were geographically close to the

day schools or that had special significance to them.

Each program was approximately an hour and a half and was made up of two major

components: entertainment that tied in with the mitzvah theme and the volunteer

project.

Entertainment Each program began with a short entertainment segment (approximately 30-40

minutes). Our first three programs had interactive storytelling and storyacting

featuring PJ Library books and the theme of the program (hunger, sharing, and

literacy). For example, at PJ Feeds: Helping the Hungry, we brought in PJ

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Library author Aubrey Davis, who told favorites like Bagels from Benny, Bone

Button Borscht, and The Enormous Potato. Our last program will feature an

interactive animal show that talks about how to care for animals and the

environment through a Jewish lens. We have found that by beginning with the

entertainment, it gets the children excited for the volunteer project they’re about

to participate in.

Volunteer Project In the second half of each program, families participated in a volunteer project to

be donated to a local agency (both Jewish and non-Jewish). At PJ Feeds: Helping

the Hungry, families made sandwiches and cards and packed sack lunches for a

local food pantry. At PJ Shares: Helping those in Need, families decorated

pajama bags and cards and packed care packages for Chai Lifeline, a national

organization that helps critically ill children and their families. At PJ Reads:

Promoting Literacy, families stickered and sorted books and made bookmarks

for a local children’s book distribution center. At our last event, families will

plant and harvest microgreens with a local Jewish community farm and

environmental education center. In addition to a very nominal event fee ($10),

we asked families to bring themed donations – canned and dried goods, pajamas,

gently used children’s books, and dog and cat food.

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Mitzvah Hero Photos Building off of the hero branding that we used in Hands on Heroes, we

continued using the imagery for PJ Gives Back in our marketing and

programming content, including our flyers and photo opportunities. We worked

with a local Jewish Teacher’s Resource Center to design and create a boy and girl

superhero photo board that could be used as a photo and branding opportunity

at events. Families can easily snap shots of their kids as JUF mitzvah heroes and

post them directly on Facebook.

Tour of Day School One benefit that most of the day schools enjoyed was hosting the program in

their space. This helped families get to know the school, its staff, and the

resources they offer to parents making pre-school and day school decisions.

Optional tours of the school were available for families interested in viewing the

classroom spaces and talking with staff about enrollment.

After each event, a survey was sent to all families who participated and there was

overwhelmingly positive feedback about the programs. The survey touches on a

family’s reason for attending, their Jewish experience at the event, their satisfaction with

the event and likelihood to attend another, as well as questions pertaining to our

partnership with the day schools.

100% of respondents indicated that one of their major reasons for attending was

so that they could participate in a hands-on volunteer experience for the whole

family.

90% of respondents had a blast at the event.

57% of respondents felt a connection with other Jewish families attending the

program.

95% of respondents learned more about the mitzvah they were participating in.

71% of respondents were encouraged to talk about the mitzvah they participated

in at home after the program was over.

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Great way to introduce kids to doing mitzvot; the act of doing something simple that helps others.

We loved everything – perfect set of activities, timing for our kids, and helped us to continue

teaching our kids about giving back to others, which is supper important to us!

This one was perfect for a variety of ages, even for preschoolers. The fact that you went above and

beyond to also make it entertaining for the kids made it a perfect blend of volunteering/fun for our

family.

Contact Deborah Shub, Program Associate, Young Family Engagement at

deborahshub@juf.org or 312-444-2844.

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