Nothing makes Valley Torah High School (VTHS) senior Sarah Andron happier than spreading chesed (kindness) throughout her community.
Involved in Chai Lifeline’s West Coast chapter and ETTA Israel, Andron works with teens in the community to help families and children with special needs. Whether she is participating in Chai Lifeline’s I-Shine program or visiting people in nursing homes on Shabbat, she tries to make others smile whenever possible.
“I started out doing chesed [when] I was really young,” Andron said. “My grandfather, who recently passed away, inspired me to do chesed because he was always doing stuff for his community, so having that as an example led me to start doing chesed.”
Andron’s mother is the principal at Emek Hebrew Academy in Sherman Oaks, and Andron said she would also ask her mother if there were any teachers who needed her help. “I always loved helping,” Andron said. “It made me feel like I was doing something.”
Wanting to help her fellow peers, she helped form THINK, an anti-bullying program at VTHS. The monthlong campaign was a success at her school so her mother asked her to bring it to Emek. Now, every Friday, Andron and her friends from the high school run an anti-bullying program for middle schoolers on how to be “kind and inclusive.
“I think it’s successful because it’s coming from us,” she said. “We’re only a couple of years older than them. I think having it come from people that are their age makes it more relatable; the fact that we understand where they’re coming from and we use practical examples.”
Andron noted that there’s “so much going on with social media right now that wasn’t there 20 years ago. So it is different when it comes from us.”
She also has worked to get more of her friends involved in volunteer efforts and has surrounded herself with people who want to make the world a better place.
“I feel like there’s this whole misconception that ‘Oh, I’m only one person I can’t change the world.’ But I think just by taking one step at a time, you can really see yourself changing someone else’s world.”
“When I’m helping others, that is the peak of my week,” she said. “I always tell my I-Shine coordinator how much I love it. It just makes me feel so happy to give back to the community because you can see the impact in someone’s life.”
This past summer, Andron’s chesed work took her to Israel for the five-week NCSY GIVE program. Andron toured the country and spent every day with children with special needs, children from Save A Child’s Heart, and children at Ethiopian centers. After graduation, she plans to spend more time in Israel so she can continue working on various chesed projects.
“I feel like there’s this whole misconception that ‘Oh, I’m only one person I can’t change the world,’” Andron said. “But I think just by taking one step at a time, you can really see yourself changing someone else’s world … just by going and giving them that time of day.”
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