If you ask a teenager in Baltimore what she did this week, you’ll probably hear a pretty typical answer: school, homework, tests, friends, not enough sleep. The usual. Because the truth is, we’re busy. As teenagers, we are wrapped up in our own lives, juggling school, social lives, responsibilities, and everything in between. Most of the time, it feels like we barely have time to keep up with our own schedules, and yet, somehow, in our community, that’s not the whole story.

If you ask a teenager in Baltimore what she did to help someone this week, suddenly the answer shifts: “I dropped off food,” “I visited someone in the hospital,” “I spent time with an elderly lady,” or “I learned the parsha with a child who goes to public school.” These are small answers. Casual. Almost as though they don’t mean so much, but that is exactly what makes them so powerful.