Teen motivated to give big
Levi Glazer is not your typical California teen. While he loves to surf and is hoping to get into the engineering program at the University of California, Berkeley, there is more to him than meets the eye.
Levi ascribes to “tikkun olam”—or “repairing the world”—an important value to his Jewish faith.
Recently, Levi and others at Jewish Teen Foundation put this value into action by addressing veteran homelessness.
“In researching different organizations working with homeless veterans, DAV’s name kept coming up,” Levi said.
The teens soon discovered that DAV supports three aspects of nonprofit work—advocacy, direct service and outreach—through benefits advocacy, employment assistance, medical transportation, disaster relief and media outreach.
“Our goal was to help alleviate veteran homelessness by funding nonprofits who are already doing the work,” Levi said.
As Levi learned about the vast work DAV does to help veterans, his thoughts turned to his grandfather who served in Vietnam. How many of those who served as his grandfather did were now facing homelessness?
“I pushed for us to support DAV because I like how the organization directly impacted homeless veterans. I also appreciate the approach DAV takes in helping disabled veterans transition from living on the streets to rehabilitating their lives,” Levi said.
Overwhelmingly, the Jewish Teen Foundation board agreed that DAV should receive the 2022 homeless veteran initiative’s grant award.
Interestingly, Levi shares something in common with DAV founder Judge Robert S. Marx: their Jewish faith.
“Judge Marx would be proud to know teens of his faith are supporting the cause he founded,” said National Headquarters Executive Director Barry Jesinoski, who also functions as DAV’s chief financial officer. “His life was a testament to the same type of ‘tikkun olam’ they’re engaging in today.”
Not only does Levi’s future look bright, but because of him and other Generation Z teens, DAV’s future looks bright too.
Do you want to be part of DAV’s bright future in repairing the world by helping disabled veterans? Every $1 donated delivers $179 in benefits to our veterans. That is a 179% return on investment into the lives of those who have sacrificed for our freedom.
Donate today to support our nation’s heroes.
