JCRC treks to the Deep South to assist victims of hurricane
By Shayndi Raice
The jewish Advocate
In an effort to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina and learn about civil rights issues in America, a group of local Jewish 20 and 30-somethings will head to Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama from Feb. 19-28, organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council's Jewish Interaction program.
After an expressed interest in contributing to the relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, Young Adults Social Justice Coordinator Noam Schimmel organized the trip as a substantive social justice immergence, which the organization conducts one a year. Often the intense immergence program is done on an international level, with relief efforts in the past going to Honduras and El Salvador.
This year, however, because the disaster hit close to home, many young Jews felt compelled to work with some of the poorest communities in America that were struck by the hurricane, said Schimmel. "Almost everyone feels they need to contribute and that they want to have that opportunity," he said.
The trip is being coordinated with Selma, Ala., a non-profit organization C.H.A.S.M., which stands for Caring, Helping, Aiding, Supporting and Mentoring, as well as Service for Peace, an organization that brings volunteers from other countries to conduct anti-poverty work. The trip will include 12 Israelis.
Jared Safrin, 24, of Brighton, will be a participant on the trip. He explained: "I really wanted to help out in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina after I saw the devastating photos. I want to do my part and relate to the people and lives that have been affected by it."
The program will include rehabilitation and relief work with not only some of the poorest victims of Hurricane Katrina, but also those who have received the least aid from the government. But participants will also learn about the history of the South and the civil rights movement. The group will meet with local journalists, tour a civil rights museum in Selma and visit a Baptist church.
Schimmel feels that educating people about the history of the South is essential. "We are taking care to note issue of rural poverty and economic and social justice prior to the hurricane. We want people to understand that the poverty here is a result of national and state politics and we want to learn how to change social policy to promote poverty reduction," he said.
The trip will also contain a Jewish aspect, as participants spend Shabbat with the JCRC of New Orleans and help to repair a synagogue library that was partially ruined in the hurricane.
Schimmel explained that participants will be required to use their own talents to assist victims of the hurricane with three teachers, a social worker and art therapist among them.
Schimmel added: "The government failed to provide for these people. It strengthens our commitment as individuals citizens and as members of the Jewish community to do our very best to respond to people in need. The government very clearly failed in their civic obligations and we will not fail."
