"You Belong in Birmingham," a project of The Birmingham Jewish Federation which brings young adults together and connects them more deeply with our Jewish community, is transforming Birmingham. The below story is one more reflection.

It was written for Update by Hart Cole. Hart, who moved here from Kentucky, is Director of Financial Operations, Central California, for Birmingham-based Surgical Care Affiliates. Hart succeeded in obtaining a grant from his company to help underwrite the project described below.

By Hart Cole

As Jews across the world came together to celebrate the holiest period on the Jewish calendar, The Birmingham Jewish Federation's You Belong in Birmingham (YBIB) group had a jam-packed weekend Oct. 1-2.

Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, this group of young professionals from across Birmingham got together on Saturday night at Pale Eddie's Pour House, to ring in the new year with apple martinis and a big Crimson Tide win over Florida. About 50 people came, including those from Babies and Bagels, another BJF group.

"What a great way to celebrate the New Year -- getting to see old friends and meeting new ones!" remarked participant Emily Mintz.

HEALING THE WORLD

Following the late night at Pale Eddie's, 18 YBIB participants met Sunday for an early morning of community service. In the spirit of Tikkun Olam, a Hebrew phrase meaning "Heal the World," YBIB collaborated with United Way of Central Alabama to build a playground -- to improve the lives of city youth and provide a safe place to play.

YBIB and United Way have been working together through United Way's Success by Six Initiative aided by a government grant of $10,000, a charitable donation from a local Birmingham corporation, Surgical Care Affiliates, and a generous offer by the construction contractors to match the donation.

The location of the site was at Step by Step Child Development in Birmingham's East Lake community.

Personally, I approached the day with a bit of trepidation. Months of hard work had finally come to fruition; it was build day! With the late night celebration at Pale Eddie's, I worried that YBIB folks might be using the time to recover, rather than waking up at the dangerously early hour of 7 am on a Sunday to come help with the project.

The playground build hinged on the volunteers; without the YBIBers, nothing could happen. I could just see showing up at the site, meeting with the construction team and United Way officials, and simply saying, "Nobody could come." Turns out, I didn't need to worry.

CARLOADS OF THE BEST

As I pulled into The BJF parking lot, I was greeted by the smiling face of Isa Dorsky, who had, not 10 hours prior, mentioned to me she'd probably be running a little late but instead was the first person there. Soon after, carloads of YBIB members began spilling into the parking lot, and we formed a convoy to head to the building site.

Once we were there, I couldn't have asked for more. Everybody was eager to work, and immediately began tackling the hardest jobs, from scrubbing rust from old playground equipment to pouring concrete. Though several people wound up with paint on their hands (and in some cases their hair), we managed to create a wonderful playground.

YBIBers helped construct a new state-of-the-art playground; paint and repair old and outdated equipment; build an outdoor chalkboard; and even find time to plant flowers and a blackberry bush and spread nearly three tons of mulch. By the time the afternoon rolled around, the playground had been transformed from an unkempt, vacant lot to what will likely be the envy of daycare facilities and schools around the city.

We all stayed for over six hours, until the last shovel of mulch had been put into place. Since it was a Sunday, we weren't able to enjoy the looks on the children's faces as they played for the first time, but our United Way representative graciously agreed to take pictures when he visits the school.

"BLOWN AWAY"

I was simply blown away by the response from YBIB. It's not easy to get a group of 20/30-somethings to give up their precious time on a Sunday and come out and engage in hard labor. Our team not only showed up, but was so enthusiastic. It was truly amazing to see.

I received several messages after the build. The most memorable of which was, "This project filled a need that we'd been missing for some time. We've wanted to get out and help the community, but we just didn't know how. I'm still enjoying the feeling I got, knowing I helped make another person's life better."

I couldn't agree more -- and have already started planning YBIB's next community outreach program.