2008 Block Award Recipients

Princess Colbert-Patterson, Rainier Beach High School

Princess currently is captain of the math team and is the founder and president of the community improvement club. She has received awards for outstanding achievement in leadership as well as academics. Princess volunteers at the local Elder Health Facility where she enjoys working with senior citizens. She does not tolerate racism and works hard to dispel negative attitudes and promote understanding.

Rosalyn Endlich, Nathan Hale High School

Roslyn has a passion and desire to serve her community and improve human relations. She has volunteered at a local women’s shelter, Earth Service Corps, Seattle AIDS Walk, Seattle’s Lambert House and spent two weeks helping in New Orleans. At school she has excelled in her classes, athletics and extra-curricular activities. One of her teachers described her as a “quiet observer who speaks her mind on important issues.”

Brenna Coleman Fallon, Seattle Prepatory School

Brenna is a bridge-builder and looks for ways to help others in her school community. She has excelled in college preparatory courses and has been working as a National Honor Society tutor and Peer Mentor.   Brenna has spent over three years volunteering for the Moyer Foundation. She has also worked with one of the “Lost Boys” from Sudan and the Academy for Eating Disorders. Brenna is compassionate, empathetic, creative and driven to help anyone in need.

Roxana Garcia, Highline High School

Roxanna is currently serving as the ASB President and Latino Club President. She has a strong passion for promoting diversity and breaking down cultural barriers. She is a member of the Highline School District Cultural Competency Committee and serves on the Student Advisory Council. She has participated in the Dual Language Learning program to discuss the benefits of being bilingual and has worked with the City of Burien on Latino outreach. Roxana works at New Futures where she tutors underprivileged kids. She is a champion for the Latino community and minorities in general. She is an incredibly resilient, intelligent and motivated young woman who takes her education and role in her community very seriously.

International Relations   

A.  Consular Association
The Greater Seattle Chapter works to build positive relationships with members of the Seattle Consular Association as a way to educate emerging foreign leaders about the Jewish people and our culture, and issues of concern to us as Americans and Jews. The establishment of amicable relations provides an avenue for the exchange of ideas to promote mutual understanding and, in some small way, to make for better conditions and the flourishing of democratic ideals in nations around the world. The Chapter hosts an annual Hanukkah reception for the Consular Association, invites them to attend the Seattle Jewish Film Festival and other key events, and hosts briefings by visiting Consuls and Ambassadors.

B.  China Initiative
As a major West Coast port, Seattle is uniquely positioned to work with Asia.  Drawing upon our extensive contacts in China, the Chapter has launched a China initiative.  Currently two projects are in development:
i) A mini Jewish film festival in Shanghai, designed both to assist the Shanghai Jewish community, which is primarily not religious, coalesce around a cultural event, and secondarily to introduce the Chinese intelligensia to the contemporary Jewish experience.
ii) Support for Jewish studies programs in China.  Currently there are six Jewish studies programs in China, with two of the largest being in Shanghai and Nanjing.  We are exploring how we might best assist in their development.

C.  Investing for Peace in the Holy Land: 
Supporting Israeli-Palestinian Cooperative Projects

Instead of fighting a proxy battle in our community, members of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities have joined together to support constructive investment in Israel/Palestine.  To offer people here a sense of hope, and to enhance building cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians over there, our Chapter took the lead in launching a new project called “Investing for Peace in the Holy Land” (IPHL). This project builds on the on-going people-to-people work presently being done by Israelis and Palestinians.

Conceived and initiated by the Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and the NW Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, this unique project tries to find concrete and constructive ways for people of diverse—but hardly disinterested—communities to work together to promote peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.  The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia Bishop’s Committee for Justice and Peace in Israel/Palestine is also playing a major role in the development of this project.

During the course of meeting together for over a year, the group discovered that there are over 200 non-profit organizations working both in Israel and the West Bank to build bridges of cooperation between the two peoples. Further research led the group to select 4 projects as ones they would recommend to local churches, synagogues and mosques for their support.  

The 4 projects selected for inclusion in Investing for Peace in the Holy Land are:

1. Healthcare Employee Development Program   www.j-diocese.org. 
   The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East has developed a cooperative program which will enable Palestinian medical personnel to receive training in Israeli hospitals before returning home to serve their own people more effectively. 
2. Parents’ Circle—Families Forum   www.theparentscircle.org
   Consisting of several hundreds of bereaved families, half Palestinian and half Israeli, this organization plays a crucial role in spearheading a reconciliation process between Israelis and Palestinians and an end to violence in the region.
3. EcoPeace Friends of the Middle East   www.foeme.org
   EcoPeace Friends brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists to work on sustainable regional development.
4. All for Peace Radio   www.allforpeace.org
   All for Peace Radio is an independent station for peace-building between Israeli and Palestinian societies, staffed by Israelis and Palestinians and operating 24/7. The station has broadcasting licenses issued by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Energy Independence

Independence from fossil fuels is an issue that affects Israel's security in the short term, our nation's well-being, and our planet's future in the long term.  This Task Force examines local and state plans and legislation for improving independence from fossil fuels, including the extended use of hybrid vehicles, improving mass transit options, and promoting the development and use of alternative energy sources.