“During these unprecedented times, I knew I had to serve my community in any way possible, and so I decided to join Serve the Moment. Serve the Moment has provided me an experience I never expected to receive.”
– Magda Lazovsky
When the pandemic first started, the Jewish community — from coast to coast — responded with Serve The Moment (STM)* to give opportunities to young adults who are eager to help make an impact while staying true to Jewish values such as tikkun olam (healing the world) and rachmanut (compassion). Our Federation’s first Serve the Moment LA Summer cohort concluded on August 7th. Our nine passionate young Jewish Angeleno corps members were matched with a variety of nonprofit organizations in L.A., spending a month volunteering, either virtually or in person, and undergoing personal and professional growth.
The pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon, and the needs of our community members are only growing. Serve The Moment will continue its programming with additional cohorts throughout the rest of the year and into 2021. We are proud to have had Chelsea Snyder, our NuRoots Assistant Director of Special Projects, as our L.A. City Coordinator for Serve The Moment, guiding this first incredible group of future Jewish leaders. Chelsea has described her experience as “a meaningful opportunity to witness the power of young adults giving back to their local community through a Jewish service-based lens.” If you or anyone you know would be interested in participating in a future cohort, please contact Chelsea at CSnyder@JewishLA.org for more information about the program and how to apply. Fall applications are open Monday, August 10th-September 14th. You can find the application at https://servethemoment.org/
“Working for Safe Parking LA while learning how to connect my Jewish roots to my work was incredibly unusual and enlightening. I’m grateful for hearing about Serve The Moment from The Jewish Federation. From this experience, I have met some wonderful people and while doing so, I have found myself viewing life from a very different perspective. In this new perspective, I was brought to light on a personal level how much services like Safe Parking LA are needed.”
-Michelle Lebowski
Meet and learn where our first Los Angeles Serve the Moment Corps Members spent a month volunteering:
Talia Bromberg, Karsh Family Social Service Center 
Carly Burdoff, St. Joseph Center and Union Rescue Mission 
Gaby Cohen, Safe Parking LA 
Jordana Glouberman, Safe Place for Youth 
Daniel Krane, Arts for LA 
Magdalena Lazovsky, Pals and Pets 
Michelle Lebowski, Safe Parking LA 
Noah Weiss, IsraAid and Inner City Law 
Nomi Wills, PATH
*The Jewish Service Alliance, through its program “Serve the Moment,” mobilizes tens of thousands of Jewish young adults and college students in 100,000 acts of meaningful service and learning to address the COVID-19 crisis, its economic fallout, and the current movement for racial justice. Serve the Moment combines virtual volunteering, in-person service, and national service campaigns around specific issues during the year. Full-time stipend-supported fellows, known as “Serve the Moment Corps Members,” serve at nonprofit partners in up to 15 cities across the country.
