At Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy (BCHA) of Stamford, the value of chesed, loving-kindness, transcends the holy scrolls and texts; it flourishes daily in the lives of students both on-and off-campus.Recently, four BCHA upper school students received the silver President’s Volunteer Service Award in recognition of their commitment to 75-99 hours of community service this year. Juniors Asher Marcus and Tamar Links and seniors Ora Muller and Raffaella Rascoff have all done impactful work in the Jewish community and in numerous local organizations.
Asher first volunteered at Beit Chaverim Synagogue in Westport, where he set up for Shabbat kiddush every week and assisted with event-planning and graphic design. He also served as the events coordinator for the Saugatuck River branch of the C.A.S.T. For Kids Foundation, which organizes fishing trips for children with special-needs.
Tamar’s community service primarily consisted of volunteering at Stamford Hospital, in the emergency room and radiology department. Additionally, she participated in the NCSY summer program Hatzalah Rescue in Israel, where she trained to be an emergency responder and worked ambulance shifts with other teens. She also assisted with various local Jewish community events, including organizing a bake sale to raise money for displaced families in Southern Israel and raising funds during an Israel Blue and White Day she helped run in school.
At BCHA, Ora helped with Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut presentations, assisted with the preschool’s Purim plays, and peer-tutored in Tanach. Outside of school, Ora volunteered with the White Plains Hospital Creative HeARTs program, creating cards and artwork for hospitalized children. She also volunteered at Greenwich Woods Health Care Center while working towards attaining her Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license.
Most of Raffaella’s community service hours were spent virtually tutoring an elementary-school student in literacy and reading. She also helped maintain the program’s successful partnership with BCHA by coordinating communication between program administrators and fellow tutors. Her efforts and time benefited the local Jewish community by bringing several Jewish students into the program. As a result, many more students are being tutored than she could have helped on her own. A moment that stuck with her from volunteering is the reaction her student had when she concluded tutoring sessions by saying, “Thank you for learning with me” at the end of every lesson. The student always seemed a bit surprised that they are part of the learning process, and it isn’t just about teaching them: it is about experiencing education together.
