Shaked, AMEN Youth Volunteer, Israel
Meet Shaked and learn about her role as an AMEN Youth Volunteer.
The youngest of four children, Shaked lives in the town of Makabim in central Israel. Even though she is a high school senior, Shaked makes time in her busy school schedule for volunteering, as part of JDC's AMEN Youth Volunteering program. Her volunteer work not only serves a specific population, but also helps train the next generation of young volunteers in her community.
Shaked is an active member of a local youth movement that focuses on nature and ecology. Through her experiences in the movement, Shaked joined Youth Leaders International (YLI), a forum for young volunteers around the globe. By participating in YLI international conferences, Shaked was introduced to a new world of volunteering opportunities. The manager of Youth Programs in Modi'in offered Shaked and her friends the chance to get involved in a new Modi'in branch of an established national youth movement for children with special needs, called "Kanfa'im shel Krembo."
Although Shaked was initially apprehensive about working with special needs children, she realized how rewarding such work could be after volunteering at a sports day for young people with disabilities. Today, Shaked serves as a guide for the seventh grade counselors who work with special needs children. She is also responsible for arranging transportation for the youth movement's activities, some of which include singing, drawing, and even dancing in wheelchairs.
Shaked admits that it's difficult to find activities that are well-suited for everyone in the group. As such, creativity is an absolute necessity. Thankfully, the movement’s national office provides ideas and resources for programming.
She sees her seventh grade guides going through the same process that she too experienced; at first, the guides are anxious about how to interact with special needs children but soon realize how wonderful the kids are. "Once you stop being afraid," she says, "you start learning just how ‘normal’ the kids are, and you start having fun."
This year on Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's 60th, Shaked will be issued a national award as Excellent Social Activist in the field of Contribution to the Community by Shimon Peres, the President of the State of Israel. This is one of the highest honors the Ministry of Education awards in the area of social activism.
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
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, and federations and donors.
