In honor of National Volunteer Week, JCorps would like to shine a spotlight on one exceptional volunteer a day through the end of the month.
Brian Kramer
Who are you: Brian Kramer, 24 years old; Volunteers 1-2 times a month, sometimes as a team leader.
How you pay the bills: Research Assistant at Weill Cornell Medical College (He scans brains for a living!)
What makes you so special: I’m currently working at a research lab that studies learning and development, I love to go hiking and backpacking, I’m a rabid Philadelphia sports fan and take a lot of flak for this living in NYC. I like to play sports (anyone who is reading the blog and would like to play tennis with me, get in touch with me on Facebook), I like to read, and I like following politics…Oh, and I hope to take a trip to Costa Rica by the end of the year.
How you got mixed up with this crowd of hooligans: I started coming to JCorps events shortly after moving to NY in October 2008– I read about it on a Volunteering NYC website.
Funniest Jcorps moment: During one of the cleanups at Riverside Park last autumn, Ari and I were really determined to remove this stubborn root that had grown to be a monster. We tried to remove it with everything, we tried to chip away at it and dig it out of the ground but it did not want to give way. Finally, we used a hacksaw and after about twenty minutes we won.
Brian vs. the Root
Why JCorps rocks your socks: I like the variety of different organizations and individuals that JCorps helps. Volunteering at the Kateri Residence on the Upper West Side, painting a basement with Habitat for Humanity, or cleaning up Riverside Park are all very different but rewarding causes and I always look forward to what we’re doing at JCorps.
How do we get you out of bed before noon on a Sunday? First, I come to JCorps events to help out in the New York area– the different causes that JCorps is involved with are really worthwhile. As a native of the Philadelphia area, I find that volunteering allows me to become a part of the community in New York– volunteering achieves that end far more than renting an apartment or traveling to work every day ever could. Second, JCorps has allowed me to become a bigger part of the Jewish community in New York City– I feel like social justice is one of the things that really connects me to Judaism. Finally, I’ve met many incredible people and made lots of new friends who are my age at JCorps. After graduating from college, it becomes far more difficult to make new friends with similar interests and everyone who comes to JCorps is always so nice. It’s hard not to like the people who are involved in the organization.
Would you give us some shameless publicity and brag about us to your friends? Absolutely. Life can get kind of frantic but the opportunity to volunteer in the city with other Jewish young adults is definitely worth two hours of your time on a Sunday afternoon. Come with a friend or come alone. Either way it’s a great organization and a great idea and you should at least try it.
How has being a part of JCorps changed your life (because clearly it must have)? There was a time in high school when I was a little down on volunteering. Some of the clubs/ organizations I was involved with would keep quotas on the number of hours we had to volunteer in order to maintain membership. To me, incentivizing volunteering like that really defeats the purpose of volunteering. JCorps is so laid back and there really are no hierarchies or rewards; I feel like I can just enjoy volunteering wherever we are and helping whoever I am helping.
Have you done volunteer work besides your amazing participation with JCorps? I volunteered in New Orleans during the senior year of college through Hillel, I’ve walked dogs at the shelters in NYC, and I’ve been involved with New York Cares.
Brian with other JCorps Volunteers