Comments (0)Is JCorps mainly a group where singles get a chance to meet and mingle, or an opportunity to volunteer and do good work?
Actually, the answer is both.
Montreal is the second city outside of New York City to become officially affiliated with JCorps. Begun in 2007, it is already being touted as the “largest Jewish volunteer network in the world.”
Its members are Jewish singles aged 18 to 28 who can come from all streams of Judaism. They do volunteer work every Sunday in groups of about 20.
At the same time, the singles get to know each other and form bonds in a setting other than noisy bars.
Ari Teman is JCorps’ 26-year-old founder. Mr. Teman said JCorps is looking into expanding to Boston, Washington, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
He credits JCorps’ phenomenal growth, which he puts at about 10 percent every two weeks, to the fact that it is based in New York, with its teeming numbers of Jewish singles, and to the fact that it is largely using the Facebook social networking site, e-mail and word of mouth to let people know about it. The JCorps Web site is http://www.jcorps.org.
Mr. Teman, who works as a stand-up comic in New York and is a graduate of Brandeis University, makes no bones about the fact that his primary motive for creating JCorps was that he was growing weary of the Manhattan Jewish singles scene.
“You keep seeing the same people, and the clubs are dark and loud,” he said.
Even on its Web site, in the frequently asked questions section, people ask: “Is this organization the result of an overly elaborate plan to meet singles?” The answer comes back: “Yes. And you’re welcome.”
JCorps, Mr. Teman said, allows the singles to “enjoy a personal sense of fulfilment” through the volunteer work, while at the same time, making new “personal and professional connections.”
The rules for JCorps are fairly simple, but they are enforced. Members must be Jewish, single and aged 18 to 28. All those doing volunteer work must wear JCorps T-shirts. Because JCorps is non-denominational and is not involved in religious activities, volunteer work is done on Sundays, not Saturdays or Jewish holidays, to enable more observant Jewish singles to participate.
JCorps stresses that its main role is to make connections between its volunteers and communal organizations. It is run exclusively by volunteers, including Mr. Teman.
Mr. Teman was reluctant to specify the exact number of people in JCorps, but he said they number in the “thousands” and he stood by the JCorps claim that it is the “largest Jewish volunteer network in the world,” based on the involvement of New York City singles alone.
Costs are paid through corporate donations and small fund raisers, including comedy club evenings that charge token amounts. The money raised goes toward the cost of T-shirts, transportation to work sites and publicity.
Mr. Teman said in the United States, JCorps has the status of a non-profit organization that can issue tax receipts.
JCorps has also received attention from the New York Jewish media. The New York Jewish Week named Mr. Teman, who is also the founder of a product design firm, as one of its “36 under 36” for 2008, and JCorps was the subject of an article last year in the New Jersey Jewish Standard.
So far, the unique approach taken by JCorps seems to be working. “No one has done the social volunteering approach for singles before,” he said.