Jewish Community News

News: September 2008

Two Palo Alto teens win $36,000 for extraordinary social action

Eric Heimark, 18, and Sarah VanZanten, 19, both of Palo Alto, are among five California teens who have been named winners of an award for community service that comes with a cash prize of $36,000.  The Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award was created in 2007 to recognize teens who have initiated an exceptional social action project that helps to repair the world (tikkun olam).
    VanZanten, now a student at Chapman University in Orange, CA., has been a spokesperson against teen dating violence for three years.  She has appeared on television, including NBC’s Today show, and has spoken to teens and their parents in more than 35 venues.
      “When I was 15 and a high school sophomore, I began dating a football player. After a few weeks he became verbally abusive and controlling. His behavior soon escalated until he shoved me against a locker at school and was suspended. After receiving two bruised ribs and a concussion, charges were filed and he was sent to Juvenile Hall. It was during Confirmation Class that I realized that I had a message to give.  At Confirmation I spoke about my experience and have not stopped for 3 and 1/2 years.”
    Heimark, a student at Menlo School, Atherton, is a founder of Free the Children branches in London and the U.S. (to be opened this fall). and has raised funds for the charity and has volunteered in Kenya and India for five summers.
    “At the age of 10, when I was moving back to England, I became inspired to join a grassroots organization known as Free the Children,  an entirely youth-run organization dedicated to freeing children from the cycle of poverty, physical and social exploitation, and the belief that they are powerless to change the world,” said Heimark.  “Starting that year (2000) in London, we were able to raise the equivalent of $20,000 to build primary schools in Africa and South America through a mere geography bee. Since then, my efforts have multiplied: I have been privileged to volunteer for five summers in Kenya and India and I am pleased to say that we will be opening a new California development office –the first outside of Canada – in my local school system this fall. I am proud to be part of an ever-growing global network of children helping other children to effect positive change.”
    The awards are funded by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.
Tikkun olam are the Hebrew words for repairing the world.  It is one of the basic precepts of Judaism. “Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders,” said Helen Diller, president of the sponsoring foundation. “This award reflects our confidence in them and our encouragement to them to continue their outstanding work in the spirit of tikkun olam for all of us and for future generations.”
    Award money is to be used for college or to further implement the winner’s vision of making the world a better place. Close to 100 teens competed for the five prizes, which were awarded by a team of  judges. To be eligible, teens had to be nominated by an adult and then complete a detailed application describing their projects, its goals, their inspiration and challenges, fundraising tactics and more.