“Tikkun Olam” is a Hebrew phrase which means “Repairing the World.” The concept suggests that all share in the responsibility to heal, repair and transform the world.
Potomac’s Katie Hamelburg has adopted the phrase as her mantra and is on a fast-track to inspiring other teens to become involved in volunteerism to make their communities, nation and world a better place for all. The 19-year-old University of Maryland sophomore, majoring in Jewish studies and social justice, developed a project to repair the world by inspiring fellow teen members of the United Synagogue Youth to perform 18,000 hours of volunteer service in one year. Not only did 600 teens step up to the challenge, but they met and exceeded their goal by volunteering 32,686 hours during the first year — more than doubling their impact.
Hamelburg, daughter of Jamie and Mark Hamelburg, was recently named the recipient of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award which honors teens who have permanently impacted their communities, nation or the world. Hamelburg and 14 other award recipients each received a $36,000 award for their “exceptional leadership and commitment to social good. The teens have provided unique solutions to pressing social issues by developing projects that support public health, equality, education, environmental sustainability, and engagement opportunities for their peers.” Hamelburg will travel to San Francisco to receive her award. She plans to give part of it to charity and use the rest toward her college expenses.
When asked how she came up with “Operation 18,000” Hamelburg said, “I saw a video of Michelle Obama challenging graduates to volunteer and work for social justice. The First Lady said, ‘Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about what you do for other people.’ That speech started the wheels turning and I decided that the USY needed a grand-scale volunteering initiative. Eighteen means ‘life’ in Judaism and is an important number in my faith – thus 18,000 hours. I wanted to create something that would be a stretch – but doable.”
Hamelburg developed an online platform that utilized a matching algorithm for joining teens across North America to available volunteer opportunities in their local communities. She established a database for measuring, tracking and publicizing their collective efforts. The teens volunteered in a variety of community service sites — some helped the victims of Hurricane Sandy, others volunteered at nursing homes, cleaned up parks, worked in shelters, tutored children or helped the homeless. The teens recorded their efforts by writing a description of their service, the number of hours, where they were from and other important data which Hamelburg collected and then analyzed.
“Some kids chose to volunteer 30 hours a week – or 25 hours a month – or even 1 hour a every other week,” she said. “The importance of my project is that they are doing some community service which is better than doing none at all. They are also learning that if we each do a little towards a goal, collectively we will make an incredible difference.” Next year, her successor is planning to triple the volunteer hours: “Operation 54,000” is the goal.
The Diller Teen Tikkum Olam Awards have given nearly $2 million to 55 Jewish teens who are tackling global issues and creating lasting change. The Diller Family Foundation is the vision of Helen Diller, from the San Francisco Bay Area. Teens are nominated and selected annually. The criteria is “someone who has shown significant initiative and leadership in creating and leading a new project that embodies the values of Tikkum Olam (repairing the world) in some way.” To learn more go to www.dillerteenawards.org.