Summer Fellowship: Children's Defense Fund-California (Oakland)

Submitted by Carson Perez on June 18, 2008 - 6:55am.

Moving to the Bay Area to serve as a Beatitudes Society Summer Fellow was one of the things that I had been looking forward to all spring semester. As a second-year, Master of Divinity student at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, I was excited to return to the Golden State, where I had spent my childhood and adolescence. Most importantly, I was excited to learn from, and to contribute to, one of the most respected social justice organizations in the nation (and beyond): Children's Defense Fund, founded by Marian Wright Edelman.

Yesterday afternoon, I made my final revisions to a letter that my supervisor will email early next week to approximately 1,100 religious leaders of various faiths in California. In this letter, I remind Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Baha'i, Buddhist, and other faith leaders of our common Divine mandate to care for, to protect, and to advocate on behalf of children everywhere. And, I encourage them to participate in the National Observance of Children's Sabbaths, on October 17-19, 2008--in worship settings, a weekend dedicated to raising awareness of our children's needs and practical activities that we all can do to ensure that they have the opportunity to live out their God-given potential.

Writing this letter was only one of my responsibilities, this past week, at Children's Defense Fund-California, in Oakland. My supervisor Nina Moreno, and other staff members, have been immensely helpful in providing me with the resources that I need to plan specific events and activities for this summer and October, surrounding Children's Sabbaths. After having consolidated multiple data bases, I will, in the weeks to come, contact the various faith leaders for their support and feedback.

My first week at CDF-CA (Oakland) is a great indication that I will have one of the most productive and fulfilling summers of my educational experience.

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