Jade Copans Gina Dave When Jade Copans was in Grade 9 at King David Linksfield and responded to a peer’s Instagram post calling for people to do community service that weekend, she didn’t think she would be deeply involved in that work six years later. She’s now assistant corporate social investment manager at the Nashua Children’s Charity Foundation (NCCF), and doing it from university in Israel, where she is studying. Not many who get involved in community service at school continue that commitment when they matriculate. “I’m one of very few who stayed passionate and committed to making a difference in the South African community,” she said. So committed is she to helping others, she wants to make a wish list in which every charity tells her the one thing they really need. “By the end of 2025, I want to have ticked every item off the list,” she said. Copans splits her time between her charity work and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, where she is in her third year. She has committed to continue to put her all into her charity work because “I do what I do for the benefit of others. I like to believe that every act of kindness makes a difference.” Copans started off as a volunteer in 2018, and continued to volunteer until she was offered her current position in February 2024. The NCCF supports more than 150 children’s organisations, including orphanages, early child development facilities, soup kitchens, special-needs facilities, squatter camps, and adoption centres. “Most of the charities we assist are unheard of. They are in the heart of the township, some feeding and looking after 600 children. Without NCCF assistance, they wouldn’t be sustainable,” she said. She loves working with the NCCF because she loves working with children. “I see so much potential in our beautiful country, and have so much hope for our future. The youth can change it, and if we give them hope and make them feel valued, they will work towards being successful individuals.” Copans’ biggest achievement was to secure donations amounting to R228 000. These included clothes and toys, and expanded to larger donations such as printers, washing machines, jungle gyms, and a huge Mandela Day event at a corporate company. She arranged for a jungle gym to be donated to a charity that had never had one, and saw how one jungle gym could bring so much joy to so many children. Earlier this year, Copans went to visit one of the organisations she helps, and was able to see the impact that she has made. “All the children wrote cards and drew pictures for me. Although I don’t know all 15 000 children personally, they all feel the love I have for them in the way I assist them.” Gina Dave combines creativity, compassion, and community involvement to have a significant impact on the lives of vulnerable children, ultimately bringing about positive change. When she started her community outreach journey five years ago, she was in Grade 8 at King David Linksfield. She realised she had found something she was passionate about, and wanted to do anything in her power to help the Jewish and wider South African community. “I was determined to make a difference. I started to explore innovative ways of raising funds and resources and mobilising people to get involved in uplifting South African children at risk in order to have a positive impact on these children’s lives,” said Dave, now in matric. She enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh’s President’s Award, part of an international youth development programme that empowers youth between 14 and 24 to explore their potential. Their aim is to find their purpose and place in the world through physical recreation, a special skill, community service, and adventurous journey. Dave achieved the gold level of the President’s Award in 2023. She said her greatest achievement so far was being the only person from her school and one of 30 South African students to attend a reception at the British High Commission in Pretoria. This was in recognition of achieving gold. At the event, she met the Duke of Edinburgh, His Royal Highness Prince Edward. “I felt proud to be the only person to achieve gold level in my year across King David schools and, of course, to be the only Jewish awardee to attend the reception and meet Prince Edward,” she said. Dave uses her creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to come up with innovative ideas that not only raise funds but urge everyone to get involved. One such project was her Forever Young socks to commemorate King David Linksfield’s 75th birthday. For that, she designed, sourced, and manufactured the socks, raised sponsorship of R112 600, and then sold the socks. She gave the proceeds to outreach programmes. She also ran the Jibbit Croc shoe initiative, which raised R14 000 for Kids Haven and Yad Aharon & Michael food charity. Dave works closely with Kid’s Haven Children’s Home, engaging the children, taking the time to bake birthday cakes and other treats for them, and collecting clothing, shoes, and stationery, which she hands over to the children herself. Dave also won the world ORT Social Responsibility Award 2024 and the Kids Haven Ambassador Award in 2023. Her biggest role model is her mother, Nicole Dave, whom she describes as “an Esther on steroids”. “She gave up her professional career as an attorney to do volunteer work and raise funds for needy causes. I’ve learned from her that helping others is the most beautiful thing we can do, and that Hashem uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things,” Dave said. “I’ve learned to dream big, be bold, and take action,” she said. “I know where my strengths and passions lie, and have used them to bring about positive change.” When Erin Dodo started studying at the University of Cape Town during the COVID-19 pandemic and saw that the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS) had fallen off the map at the university, she knew that that she had to revive it to the thriving student organisation it is today. She has since dedicated herself to give Jewish students a voice in the Western Cape and around the world. That, despite not having attended a Jewish school. At only 22 years old, Dodo has held many leadership positions while pursuing a Bachelor of Social Science Double Major in political science and anthropology, which she completed in 2023. She’s now pursuing a postgraduate honours degree in political science. She was chairperson of the Western Cape chapter of SAUJS from 2021 to 2024; UCT student representative council deputy secretary general from 2022 to 2023; a Lauder Fellow for 2023 to 2024 at the World Jewish Congress; a member of the Jewish Diplomatic Academy at the World Jewish Congress; member at large at the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Campus Global Board for 2023 to 2024; and chairperson of the International Committee of AJC Campus Global Board for 2024 and 2025. Dodo believes she got to where she is today through her belief in taking every opportunity with both hands. “Opportunities in politics haven’t been handed to me easily. I’ve had to fight to be where I am, and I’ll continue to take up as much space as I can and keep Jewish voices heard,” she said. “Through empowering myself, I have empowered many others, and allowed more young Jewish leaders to grow and emerge.” While advocating for Jewish students on campus, Dodo said she encountered many hurdles, one of which was the unwillingness of the university to acknowledge the concerns and challenges of its Jewish students. She overcame these hurdles by understanding the inner workings of the university, not accepting its bureaucratic structures, and demanding that Jewish students got what they deserved. A seminal moment for Dodo was when she spoke at the AJC’s global forum on antisemitism on campuses. “It was incredible to be recognised on that level at such an esteemed and well attended conference. I also had the honour of working alongside Congressman Ted Deutch as his intern in New York that year.” For Dodo, it has been challenging to advocate for the Jewish students on campus while working hard academically, knowing that there are a lot of eyes on her. To meet the challenge, she said, “I remember why I’m doing it in the first place, and that the future I’m striving towards is bigger than their judgements.” Besides, she said, “I love what I do, and have so many friends involved, so whenever I go to meetings or community commitments, it hardly feels like work because of the joy it brings me. I also have supportive friends who understand my commitments and come to support me where they can.” Erin Dodo 44 Ichikowitz Family Foundation Rising Star Award nominees
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