This is very much like the definition of Tikkun Olam: helping seniors to get vaccinated.

“I got an email from GW Hillel saying, ‘Come join us in our vaccine efforts,’ so I emailed the people that run it and the JCC and Hillel and told them I wanted to work with them. We talked about what platforms we should use and how we should reach out to volunteers and seniors. I got put on a matching team, so now my job is to review the lists of seniors and volunteers. I assign volunteers to seniors and email the volunteers saying, ‘This is your senior, make sure you reach out, etc.’

“It’s been a lot of late nights just making sure everything’s running smoothly, answering emails, reassuring people that get put down by the process. It’s been a super rewarding thing that makes me feel like I’m doing good when I’m just up late at night worried about how people can get vaccines.

“I’m a part-time student and it’s a difficult job market right now. I really wanted something that I’m passionate about to fill my time and this was perfect to me. My grandparents got COVID, and thank God they’re okay, but that’s also helped me be passionate about the cause.

“This is very much like the definition of Tikkun Olam — we’re helping old people navigate a system that even young people have difficulty going through and we help them get registered and get the shots in their arm.” — Noah Bennett, George Washington University

As told to Deanna Schwartz, writer in the Hillel International Writers Program.