Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards accepting nominations for 2015

(JTA) — The Helen Diller Family Foundation is accepting nominations for the 2015 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, which recognize Jewish teens for their leadership and innovative social action projects.

Fifteen teens, up to five from California and 10 from communities throughout the United States, each will receive $36,000 for the award, which recognizes the teens’ philanthropic efforts. The deadline for nominations is Dec. 14.

The Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards have granted more than $2 million to 55 U.S. Jewish teens. Last year’s recipients came from California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Massachusetts, Georgia and Illinois.

Past recipients have made their mark through projects including building soccer fields and water wells to bring people together in war-torn regions of the world; donating textbooks and school supplies to financially strapped schools in California and around the globe; collecting and distributing shoes to homeless children so they can participate in life outside their shelters; and raising awareness and changing attitudes about bullying and autism through peer-to-peer programs.

The awards is one of a number of projects funded by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties, to develop leadership in teens and enhance Jewish education.

“The Foundation believes in the importance of shining a spotlight on exemplary Jewish teens to build future generations of strong Jewish leaders,” said Helen Diller, president of the foundation. “It is our hope that the awards will not only validate the social efforts of a generation of Jewish teens but empower them to continue on their philanthropic journeys to repair the world.”