Today I am thrilled to share with you a conversation I had with Ben McCue, Executive Director of Outdoor Outreach. This is a fabulous organization that is taking a powerful, wise, and brilliant approach to providing marginalized youth with a much-needed lifeline. I am confident that there are some of you reading this post who will feel an irresistible urge to get involved with helping this organization achieve its mission after you see what these folks are up to. Read on, and be inspired!

And tikkun olam really means “to repair the world.” It’s part of Jewish culture to understand that there are parts of our community and our culture that are broken and need to be repaired, and that it’s incumbent upon all of us to do that work. And that we may not complete that work within our lifetime, but we are obligated to participate in it.

One of the big things that I try to teach when I teach the swim programs is that the words “I can’t” and “I’m not able to” don’t exist. Because you’re there, you can. And my goal for the program isn’t just safety, it’s that these kids can think back on these lessons when they thought that they couldn’t float, they thought that they couldn’t cross the pool, they thought they couldn’t reach the buoy, and think, “Wow, I was really scared, but I did it anyway.” When they get to bigger challenges in their lives – applying for a job, or a big life catastrophe, or whatever it is – they can think back on that time, “I didn’t have confidence then, but I went for it anyway because I felt the faith that I could, and I made it! So I can do that now, too.” Because God won’t take you anywhere that He can’t help bring you out of. So, that’s where the name comes from. It’s not just about water safety but it’s also about building confidence.

Today I share with you my conversation with Nita Kurmins Gilson, Cofounder and Director of Programs and Outreach for ProduceGood. This organization takes an ancient practice - gleaning - and applies it brilliantly in our modern world to simultaneously supply the food insecure with fresh produce, reduce needless waste, and reduce pollution. Read all about it below!