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Bayview student awarded $25,000 for volunteering locally and globally
Ruby Sniderman was awarded $25,000 for her volunteer accomplishments
At the young age of 18, Ruby Sniderman has already touched the lives of many people — both locally and internationally — earning her a $25,000 award toward her university education.
This past spring, the recently graduated Earl Haig Secondary School student won a Millennium Excellence Entrance Award. One of 121 selected recipients, she was chosen for her strong leadership skills, high academic achievement and community involvement.
Sniderman began volunteering when she was 13, joining her parents as they helped deliver food for the homeless. By the age of 15, she got involved in a camp youth group, Young Canadian Judaea. Over the winter break from 2006 to 2007, she left the city to deliver supplies in Argentina for two weeks.
“It’s not about what motivates me,” she says about why she volunteers. “It’s about what’s right, so I do it.”
Later in 2007, a trip for pleasure in Israel again turned into get another good deed, when Sniderman spent time with children who had taken refuge there from Darfur.
“We spent the day hanging out and playing games,” she says. “They were just like normal kids, but at the back of your head you're just thinking of what they’ve been through. It was just a day, but it definitely had a long lasting affect.”
Back in Canada, Sniderman and several classmates started devoting their time to planning a benefit concert to raise money for Invisible Children. The group was founded by three film students who made a documentary after witnessing the realities of child soldiers in northern Uganda.
After seeing the movie, they decided to help and raised more than $10,000 toward a new school in the African country.
The night after the concert, Sniderman headed to New Orleans to volunteer in the wake of hurricane Katrina, painting murals and volunteering with local children.
And this past December, she took part in her school’s annual global affairs conference and made the theme her passion for children’s issues. Ten charities attended and did presentations and workshops with the students, including Free the Children, World Vision and War Child.
Next fall, Sniderman will attend McGill University, to study international development. Her other plans for the future include travelling and going overseas to volunteer, but she really hasn’t thought that far ahead.
“I’m only 18!” she exclaims.
The Post salutes Bayview student Ruby Sniderman for donating her time to important causes locally and internationally.
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