Alexandra Kukoff, a ninth grader at Thousand Oaks in California, regularly blogged for Babaganewz as a companion piece to her book, “A Jewish Girl’s Guide to a Bat Mitzvah Project,” which interviews girls of all ages about their Bat Mitzvah Projects. Last year, she won Seventeen Magazine’s 2011 Fiction Contest through Scholastic. Read her winning entry here. She is passionate about helping other teens find charitable causes of their own to volunteer for and contribute funds to.
How, and when, did you first get involved in charitable giving?
I first got involved in charitable giving in early 2011 when deciding on my Bat Mitzvah Project. I wanted to give to so many causes, but realized that by the time I finished, my Bat Mitzvah would be over! After much consideration, I decided to write “A Jewish Girl’s Guide to a Bat Mitzvah Project,” which interviews women of all ages about their Bat Mitzvah Projects to give pre-Bat Mitzvah age girls ideas of what they’d like to do to celebrate their coming-of-age. My book has inspired many girls to contribute to charitable causes, and by extension, I’ve also taken part in charitable giving.
Who do you look up to as philanthropic mentors? Why?
I look up to philanthropic mentors such as Helen Diller and Charles Bronfman because of their unyielding support for a wide variety of Jewish causes.
What cause or causes are you passionate about, and why?
I’m very passionate about causes involving the hearing impaired because of my own loss – I’m deaf in one ear, born missing two of the three bones in my left ear. Because the loss is anatomical, not neurological, I am not eligible for a hearing aid. I am currently working on a project to help the hearing impaired with GrabCad, which went public earlier this month (here’s a related blog post). A personal essay/memoir I wrote about hearing loss, “Glittering Pixie Dust,” was featured in an ebook anthology through the New York Times Learning Network, Edutopia, Figment, and the National Writing Project. “Glittering Pixie Dust” was also honored by the 2013 California Art and Writing Awards through Scholastic.
How do you define the word “philanthropist”?
My definition of philanthropy poses as a parallel to the laws of tzedakah. The laws of tzedakah insist that giving is essential, even when the giver doesn’t have much to give themselves, to at least get into the habit of giving. Thus, I define a philanthropist as one who gives, even when they don’t have much, for the greater good of not only the community, but of themselves.
How do you plan on incorporating giving into your life in the future?
I will always give – whether it’s money or time, or both – to charities of my choice focused on the hearing impaired and any other groups suffering from disabilities. The Teen Changemakers series is a collaboration between The Jewish Communal Fund of New York and the Jewish Teen Funders Network, with the goal of sharing posts written by real teens about their involvement in philanthropy and service. Do you know a teen philanthropist we should interview? If so, email Tamar at [email protected].