A Day in the Life of Impact Coordinator Marissa Finkelman

Posted on 07/26/2012 @ 12:00 AM

A Day in the Life of Impact Coordinator Marissa Finkelman

Wow, what an exciting (and HOT) day! The Impact Chicago participants have been waiting to finally get to see Chicago, and fortunately today was the perfect day for them to do just that.

We started out the day with some curriculum sessions that included an interactive "tower building" activity which served the purpose of demonstrating certain unfair aspects of our society, and concluded with various discussions on philanthropy and tzedakah. Then, we took the Metra to Millennium Park, where we met Hallie and Stephanie from JUF (Jewish United Fund) and enjoyed a beautiful picnic in a grassy area.

After we ate, we had a scavenger hunt activity around the park in order to learn the names of the philanthropists who made everything possible, which introduced the rest of the day's program perfectly. We walked over to the Federation building to get started on an incredible "Philanthropy Boot Camp", which taught participants all of the ins and outs of philanthropy. Finally, we took a bus over to Navy Pier for a fun night that included a fireworks show!

Kelsi Krandel (CRW) excitedly updated her Facebook status following our night out on Navy Pier with the following: "Tonight I had REAL Chicago-style pizza, hung out with awesome BBYO people at Navy Pier, went on the Waveswinger, had Phish Food ice cream for the first time, learned how to wobble, and watched a fantastic fireworks show over Lake Michigan. How was your evening?"

We had a very exciting day, but everyone is more than ready for another meaningful day at our service sites tomorrow!

~Marissa Finkelman