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May 3, 2002/Iyar 21, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 33
Making a difference
Outstanding teens honored with first-time award
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
Wylie Silverstein, left, president of the Women's Department of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, presents the Anne Frank "Teens Make a Difference" Award to Madeleine Wells, second from left, and Drew Alyeshmerni, second from right. Also pictured is the award committee chairwoman, Francine Coles.
Photo by John Magoulas
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It was an epiphany. Not just the kind that causes a change in perception, but the kind that precedes action.
As Wylie Silverstein sat at an awards luncheon honoring teens for their communal service work, she thought about the large number of these events she had attended for secular organizations. And then it happened - the realization that she wasn't aware of a single Jewish organization honoring Jewish youth in a similar fashion.
The problem was, Silver-stein says, "either we're not encouraging our Jewish youth to give back to their community and to do volunteer work and community service, or ... they are doing it and we as a Jewish community are not taking note."
Her conclusion was "that the Jewish community needed to develop an award that honors young people for their volunteer work within the community, Jewish and secular."
And so they did.
As president of the Women's Department of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, Silverstein founded a committee to facilitate the creation of the award - the Anne Frank "Teens Make a Difference" Award.
"It seemed logical to call it the Anne Frank Award in honor of a young woman who never had the opportunity to serve her community," explains Silverstein. "In honor of Anne Frank and all the other young people who never had the opportunity to do what these young people have the opportunity to do - what better way to honor the young people we lost."
Silverstein, along with the award committee chairwoman Francine Coles and other committee members, developed an application and actively publicized the award to Jewish day schools, religious schools, synagogues and youth groups.
Once the applications were received, the award committee selected 10 finalists, who were then invited for personal interviews: Rachel Alter, Horizon High School; Drew Alyeshmerni, Chaparral High School; Kara Block, Mingus Union High School; Randi Heller, Chaparral High School; Jarod Munzer, Horizon High School; Melissa Rubin, Sedona Red Rock High School; Alana Thomas, Chaparral High School; Helen Thomas, Desert Canyon Middle School; Rachel Tie, Desert Mountain High School; and Madeleine Wells, Mingus Union High School.
"Each one was more outstanding than the next. It really gives you such hope for the future," says Silverstein.
At an awards luncheon held April 18 at Coles' home, the 10 finalists and their families gathered for the presentation of the award winner.
"We finally narrowed it down to two (finalists) and we couldn't choose, so we actually gave out two awards," explains Silverstein.
The two winners, Alyesh-merni and Wells, were awarded $613. All of the finalists received a mezuzah and a certificate with a collage of pictures of the finalists.
According to Silverstein, both Wells and Alyeshmerni are committed to serving the community, but they stood out for different reasons.
Wells, who lives in Cottonwood, coordinated a local and national fund-raising effort for a classmate who needed a liver transplant. From a benefit concert to a celebrity basketball game to a letter-writing campaign, Wells' efforts raised a total of $17,000. Wells says that the classmate received her transplant and is now attending college.
"It was such an unbelievable act of kindness," says Silverstein.
Wells says her favorite community service activity is working with seniors at the Eden Center for Adult Day Care, which she does two afternoons a month.
The committee was also impressed by Wells' efforts to be involved in the Jewish community, despite residing in an area with a limited Jewish population.
Wells attends services at the Jewish Community of Sedona and studies Hebrew with a local tutor. She also volunteers to help with youth projects at the synagogue in Sedona.
Wells was excited - and a little overwhelmed - at being part of the Anne Frank awards.
"It was so great. I couldn't even believe I was up there with such amazing people. I felt really honored," Wells says.
Silverstein says Alyeshmerni's efforts in the local Jewish community led to her receiving the award.
"Drew was outstanding in her total involvement in so many Jewish communal pro-jects in Phoenix," explains Silverstein.
Alyesh-merni says her favorite work is the bikkur cholim (visiting the sick) program she participates in at Mayo Hospital. Each Friday she brings challah, grape juice and a pamphlet with the blessings to the Jewish patients at the hospital.
"The people who really enjoy it the most are the people (who) really don't have any family in town," she explains.
Alyesh-merni is active at Temple Chai and Chabad of Scottsdale, and she enjoys working with children at both places. She's also an active Girl Scout.
"My favorite part is selling cookies and doing stuff with the little girls," she says.
The musically inclined Alyeshmerni plays several instruments and has been singing for "as long as I can remember." She teaches Israeli dancing and culture at Temple Chai's religious school and assists with their junior choir.
Alyesh-merni also works with the Council for Jews with Special Needs. She leads song and dance sessions at the group's Passover seders and created a teaching tape of prayers and songs for Shabbat services.
Alyesh-merni credits Cantor Sharona Feller of Temple Chai with being a role model in her life.
"Because she gives so much of herself just to help somebody else, it really touched me and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up," she explains. "It started with just one little thing. I liked the way helping people made me feel, so therefore I just wanted to see how far I could get."
Recently, Alyeshmerni was elected to the position of regional religious and cultural vice president for NFTY Southwest (North American Federation of Temple Youth). She says she is excited about the opportunity to correspond with the youth groups and the chance to lead services and organize Torah studies. All practice for her future career: "I want to be a rabbi when I grow up - a rabbi or a cantor."
Silverstein says the award program far surpassed her expectations, and she looks forward to great success from the yearly award.
"We hope it grows and grows and reaches more and more young people and motivates them and plants those seeds for the future that we will be so grateful for.
"(The honorees) made us feel that the future looks bright. We're in good shape if these are the representatives of the Jewish community of the future."
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