The Covenant Grants

Banot Buddies

Organization: Nishmah: The St. Louis Jewish Women's Project, St. Louis, MO

Grant Year: 2008

Project Director: Ms. Ronit Sherwin

Type of Grant: Ignition

Grant Amount: $5,000 (1 year)

Informal Education
Service Learning
Social Justice
Teens

To expand an ongoing program that brings elementary and high school girls together for mentoring opportunities, Jewish enrichment, and community service projects. By the end of the grant, Banot Buddies was holding six events each year.

In 2010, Banot Buddies decided its programming should focus around “girlhood” topics” viewed through a Jewish lens. Activities during the grant period included a high holidays program asking the girls to reflect on themselves while looking in the mirror, a scavenger hunt for information on Jewish values, and an interactive session at a Jewish residential facility for the elderly. Some of the programs had a mother-daughter component as well.