60 Jewish Students End Summer ‘vacation’ As Volunteer Workers in Southern Poverty Areas

A group of Jewish high school students from seven eastern states have completed their volunteer work in the poverty areas of Delaware, Kentucky and Texas, it was announced today by the American Jewish Society for Service which recruited and conducted the work of the co-ed groups. Donald Runsfeld, assistant to President Nixon and head of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, praised the groups and slated that they had “made a substantial contribution to the work of our Community Action Program. In money terms their volunteer efforts were probably worth more than $30,000, but even more significant than the job they accomplished was the spirit in which it was done.” Henry Kohn, president of the AJSS and one of its founders, said that these youths, “instead of going to a summer camp or visiting a resort, plunked down $400 each, plus transportation costs, if they could afford it, for the privilege of working for the poor.” He described the AJSS as an independent national organization launched in 1950 to give Jews and those of other faiths an opportunity to perform humanitarian services in fulfillment of the teachings of Judaism.”

The OEO Community Action Program of Sussex County, Delaware, invited AJSS so send a group to Seaford. The primary purpose was the repair of the homes of elderly persons who are unable to do it themselves or cannot afford to have it done. AJSS campers also served in the Day Care Center. During the seven weeks, 62 home improvement projects for senior citizens were finished, according to Stanford Bratton, local CAP chief. At the request of the Mississippi River Economic Opportunity Council, a second group worked in the area of Fulton and Hickman, Kentucky. The young people worked five days a week, about 8 hours a day, repairing and painting homes of the poor, both white and black, with the owners furnishing the materials. Some youngsters worked with Tony Orendain, union leader at his office in McAllen. In Mercedes, campers helped the Urban Renewal Agency tear down three old houses and a large abandoned church; the lumber salvaged will be used for a new service center for the union. In the El Gatto and Campo Alto barrios, students repaired and repainted homes of farm workers with paint donated by local merchants. “Typically,” Mr. Kohn said, “an AJSS group is initially met by disbelief and suspicion, but these young people quickly demonstrated that they were sincere and serious about working under arduous conditions. The communities soon realized the value of their presence.”