Source: BBYO Standup
BBYO’s Stand UP initiative empowers teens to identify a cause that inspires them, and develop their own campaign to affect positive change in their local and global community. It is a grassroots movement of Jewish teens across the globe to take action and tackle the issues and causes they care about most. It empowers a generation of young Jewish leaders who are self-aware and motivated to become agents of change within and beyond the Jewish community.
Rooted in Jewish obligation and BBYO tradition, Stand UP is a new understanding of the old practice of Tikkun Olam – repairing the world around us. By implementing their own campaigns at the local, regional and international level, teens gain invaluable experiences in the areas of community service, philanthropy, and advocacy, cultivating important skills to become effective change makers and contributing members of the greater Jewish community. Alephs and B’nai B’rith Girls have united to combat issues and causes such as hunger, cancer, homelessness, genocide, human rights, bullying and harassment, while rallying to support global Jewry, charitable foundations, public services and community agencies amidst a multitude of other communal priorities.
Launched during the 2009-2010 programming year, Stand UP was created to build upon BBYO’s new movement mentality. Teens were more passionate and committed than ever before and as an organization we were building a national and global network that was larger and stronger than at any other time in the history of AZA and BBG. Stand UP was created to allow our teens to personalize their service, advocacy and philanthropy hours on local, regional and international levels, and dedicate them to causes they truly felt passionate about. Now, over the past 4 years, teens have voiced their passions, expressed their opinions and showed the world what it means to be a part of the Jewish community by improving it and others around the world. To date, teens have logged thousands of service hours, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, and been instrumental agents of change and influence on multiple legislative documents and issues. Stand UP has marked BBYO’s transition from youth group to youth movement and ushered in a new era of change and impact that truly embodies the values and missions of the BBG and AZA experience.