The giver: Rachel Brunelle

YULA Girls High School
Going to: Midreshet HaRova seminary; New York University

When Rachel Brunelle was in 10th grade at YULA Girls High School, she took one look at the list of approved community service projects and immediately was disappointed.

She already had been volunteering weekly with critically ill kids at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA — which wasn’t on the list — and she felt that the policy that only credited service within the Jewish community was a mistake. She was “deeply bothered” that students couldn’t receive credit for volunteering outside of the Jewish world and took her case to Rabbi Abraham Lieberman, the head of school.

“I want[ed] to show them that there’s more in Los Angeles than just the Jewish community,” Brunelle told the Journal recently. “There are more people in need.”

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