Help Rebuild New Orleans with YAD

Does community service give you that warm, fuzzy feeling? Do you especially enjoy helping others while socializing with friends? Want to meet other young, professional Jews from around the country? Then, mark your calendars and register today! From March 15 to 17, 2009, the UJC National Young Leadership New Orleans Conference named TikkuNOLAm, will take place in the Big Easy (for the first time), which fits into our “party with a purpose” theme this year in San Francisco. Every two years, hundreds of young Jewish adults from across the country converge to lobby and learn. The United Jewish Communities has decided to hold this special national conference focusing on community service to help rebuild New Orleans. Why? Although some rebuilding has occurred, there is still much left to do. After all, repairing the world (Tikkun Olam) is what the Jewish community is all about. That’s why the YAD community has built a strategic partnership with St. Bernard Parish, one of the areas hit worst by Katrina. (It’s just 15 minutes outside of downtown New Orleans and was damaged as much as the 9th Ward, but didn’t get as much attention.)

What’s going on at the conference?

• Sunday: Opening Plenary discussing New Orleans in the afternoon, cocktail reception at D-Day Museum in the evening and free time to explore New Orleans nightlife afterward.
• Monday: All 550 of us from will be rebuilding the badly damaged Hannon High School into a multi-facility Youth Complex that houses sports fields, art areas and more. Many kinds of work will be needed including landscaping, painting, and wiring. That night, we'll have dinner with folks from our federation, and have free time to explore the city’s music scene.
• Tuesday: Break-out sessions on relief work, Tikkun Olam, and disaster preparedness.

Why am I going? I was just 17 years old when my parents dropped me off at Tulane University. A few days later, I faced my first minor hurricane. I spent the night boarding up my dorm windows with masking tape so the glass wouldn’t shatter, slish-sloshing through campus in thigh-high water and mud-fighting while drinking hurricanes. Classes were even canceled the next day! But watching Katrina three years ago dashed my bright-eyed and bushytailed memories of the New Orleans rains. As a teenager, it is easy and even expected to get swept up in the naiveté of false safety and the idea that we are invincible. As an adult though, I am deeply saddened by the consequences that could have been deterred, and even more shocked that New Orleans is still struggling today.

Register now, before it’s too late! More than 20 people from the Bay Area have signed up, but let’s get even more. Space is limited to only 550 people from across the country and already more than 400 have registered. (Once 550 sign up, you will be placed on a waiting list for possible cancellations.)

Ellen Rosenstock

The cost of the conference is $400 (not including airfare). Some subsidies may still be available. For details and to register, visit www.nolaconference.org or contact the Young Adult Division of the San Francisco Federation. TikkuNOLAm. See ya in N’awlins! Go Green Wave! Ellen Rosenstock New Orleans Conference Co-Chair Young Adults Division Board