Teen philanthropist wins leadership award
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Harvey Pava
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SPRINGFIELD Harvey Pava, 17, of Springfield, was recently honored as an Emerging Teen Leader by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
Pava, who recently graduated from the Hebrew High School of New England in West Hartford, Conn., is an active member of B'nai Tzedek, a group for Jewish teens interested in philanthropy.
Membership in B'nai Tzedek starts with a bar or bat mitzvah teen investing $125, which both the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Jewish Endowment Foundation match. This creates a personal endowment fund, allowing the teen to become engaged in the lifelong habit of giving by annually allocating five percent of the fund balance to a Jewish non-profit organization. The young fund holders come together at the annual meeting to make their allocations.
B'nai Tzedek currently holds over $439,000 in assets. In Hampden County, 387 teens have B'nai Tzedek accounts, while 135 fund holders are in Hampshire County, 75 in Berkshire County and five in Franklin County. The program has made $35,094.50 in grants to Western Massachusetts Jewish non-profits since the program's inception 10 years ago.
"Harvey has a demonstrated love of Judaism, Israel and the Jewish people," said Rachel Jackowitz, the foundation's coordinator of the award. "Harvey is the president of his youth group chapter (at Springfield's Congregation Kodimoh) and is always involved in volunteering."
Pava's volunteering has involved building community sukkahs (booths for the fall festival of Sukkot), visiting the elderly, delivering food baskets for Purim, and leading Shabbat services at his synagogue, sometimes at a moment's notice.
He will be traveling to Israel for a year of study before he enters Yeshiva University in the fall.
"Harvey leads by example, and we are so pleased to have the opportunity to recognize his wonderful tzedakah (charity) work and leadership skills," Jackowitz said.
Pava, along with Sarah Schiff of Lenox and Sasha Lansky of Amherst, received a $500 check and a certificate from the Foundation at B'nai Tzedek's annual banquet.
For more information about the B'nai Tzedek Program, visit www.hgf.org.
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