by Bay Area Mitzvah Corps Staff & Participants of 2012
compiled by Alex Hudes, Student Life Coordinator
Each member of BAMCorps, both participants and staff, were asked to sum up what BAMCorps means to them in 1-2 sentences. Here is what they said:
“I have changed because I found out the importance of helping indigent people. I have learned that many poor folks are not crazy people, but rather misunderstood and hapless.”
“BAMCorps means forever. BAMCorps means having your eyes opened to the terribleness that exists in the world. BAMCorps
BAMC 2012
means looking like fools while trying to pick berries from a tree that is a tad too tall. BAMCorps means friendship.”
“BAMC means that I can change the world. BAMC means that I am responsible. For myself. For my friends. For my family. For people I know, and people I have never met. For the people I love, and the people I don’t love yet.”
“It means family and family, means no one gets left behind, but this is not only true for the 19 of us. The word is family; we are connected so no one should be left on the street, or have nowhere to go if you’re mentally disabled, or if you have no food to eat. BAMCorps is helping repair our forgotten family and add love that’s dearly missed.”
“BAMCorps for me is a tool that helped me to grow as a person and understand that life isn’t so straightforward – it is complicated, there are a thousand sides to every story and everyone matters.”
“It means that I have found myself. To be honest, I came in with a negative outlook and I came out empowered and with a passion
BAMC Rawr!
to fix myself and the world.”
“BAMCorps was a way for me to feel like I was making a difference while meeting some great people. It made me feel powerful. BAMCorps means family and family means no one gets left behind.”
“BAMCorps means to me: making new friends and lifelong bonds while discovering more about myself and learning to become a better person through social action.”
“Bay Area Mitzvah Corps is pure beauty. Thank you for letting me be a part of it and allowing myself to become a better person.”
“BAMCorps is awesome person training! BAMCorps is a training camp for do-gooders!”
“BAMC is this amazing program that has changed my life. Volunteering and being part of a Jewish family made this experience unbelievable. BAMC has changed many of my views on life in general.”
BAMC Scavenger Hunt
“BAMCorps 2012 means many things to me. BAMC means family, help, and love. One example is when in one of our games we were supposed to touch the head of someone who you consider family and all of the people standing up touched everyone’s head.”
“I met a person that I really love and care about.”
“BAMCorps opened up my eyes to serious problems that are not often addressed around where I live, i.e.: Girls Hope – are few if any organizations in my town to help children in bad environments.”
“When I think of BAMC I think of watching people’s face change when you do something. I could be giving them a plate of food or simply saying good morning to them.”
“BAMC means family to me and I love them. It also means education from people. It means learning I say the word ‘down’
BAMC Boys
weirdly, and falling in love with J Pom.”
“Through BAMCorps I have made close friends. I have made tangible differences in the Bay Area and am now confident I can continue to do so in my own community.”
“BAMCorps gives me the chance to make a change and the ability to be proud of the changes I see us all making.”
“BAMCorps is a safe space to call home. No matter where I am or what I am doing these are the 18 people I can always come back to.”
As terrifying as it is that there were BOYS on this trip (what are boys), I love the Lilo and Stitch reference, and I’m glad everyone was super obsessed with each other. That’s how BAMC does it.