International Peacemaking Fellow Gilana Levavi has received an Interfaith Youth Core starter grant of $500 to fund three interfaith projects at Hartford Seminary.

The first is to launch a composting initiative.

“To launch this initiative, I would work with fellow students, as well as staff and faculty members, to plan and hold an interfaith dialogue and text study event about composting, waste, and environmentalism,” Levavi said in her grant proposal. “I would use the grant funding to purchase counter-top compost containers, and an outdoor composting bin, or supplies to construct one. In the future, we may be able to use soil generated from compost to plant a vegetable garden and harvest vegetables for communal meals or to donate to a hunger relief organization.”

The second initiative is to organize a panel discussion with individuals from different religious backgrounds to discuss ways in which religion has impacted their mental health and to talk about how religious communities may work to diminish mental illness stigma. A service project connected to the event would include making cards to deliver to patients in a local psychiatric care facility.

The third initiative is a series of Interfaith Shabbat dinners to be held at Hartford Seminary. “They will be opportunities for students of different faith backgrounds to build relationships with one another and to learn about the Jewish practice of Shabbat,” Levavi said. “Some dinners may involve intentional discussion of broad themes that are related to Shabbat but which manifest in a variety of traditions, such as rest, time and sanctification.”

Thank you, Gilana, for helping to make Hartford Seminary a better place!