Adam, AMEN Youth Volunteer, Israel
WATCH VIDEO: Meet Adam and learn about his role as an AMEN Youth Volunteer.
The oldest of four children, 16-year-old Adam lives in the Druze village of Ussifiya in northern Israel. With the goal of attending Yale University to study medicine, Adam devotes many hours to his high school studies, focusing on biology. Yet even as such a serious student, Adam makes time to volunteer with a variety of projects and programs for his community. He has served on the local youth council for the last five years, volunteers as an emergency medical technician for Magen David Adom, and is a member of Lions International, an organization focused on multi-cultural exchange programs for students.
Adam explains that while it is difficult for him to balance his studies and volunteer activities, he knows volunteering must be a part of his life. It is important to him, he says, because members of the community must help each other improve their lives. Adam strongly believes that without volunteers, there would be no community.
JDC's AMEN Volunteer Program
In 2003, JDC launched AMEN to mobilize young people to promote and participate in volunteer activities to meet their communities' needs. AMEN strives to achieve this by:
- Increasing the number of youth volunteers through innovative volunteering frameworks
- Improving cooperation and professionalism amongst youth volunteer organizations
- Creating a cadre of young volunteers who can become future community leaders
- Providing organizations with professional training programs for volunteers
In four years, AMEN's results have exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. The average rate of youth volunteerism within eight pilot cities has increased tremendously: from 9 percent to 50 percent; and over 200 new youth volunteer projects have been created. More than 47,000 teenagers are now part of the initiative and have given over 3.9500 million hours of volunteer service to their communities.
AMEN is a partnership between JDC, the Ministry of Education, the Israel Association of Community Centers and Amutat Alon. In addition, AMEN has strategic partnerships with various businesses, universities and colleges, federations and donors
