SDJW Volunteer of the Month: Elizabeth Leventhal

By Mimi Pollack

CHULA VISTA, California — The volunteer for November is Elizabeth Leventhal. Up until now, the volunteers I have featured were either people I knew or who had been recommended to me. In this case, I did not know Elizabeth personally, but she and I are Facebook friends, and we share 33 FB friends.  I decided to feature her after I read many of her posts as I could see she liked being of public service.

Leventhal, a third generation San Diego native, says that doing volunteer work is something she comes by naturally as it was a value that she learned from her family growing up. Her father, Lance Leventhal, was an innovator in the early days of computer science. He is known for the 25 books he wrote on computers from 1978 to 1992, including Assembly Language Programming.  He was also active in the La Jolla Democratic Club and volunteering with other community-oriented activities.

Leventhal went to California State University at Chico where she majored in Political Science.  She was active in The Jewish Student Union and Hillel. Today she works in event planning. She organizes and runs high-tech conferences and tradeshows. She mentioned as an example, Semper Technologies.

She volunteers with a local planning board, advocating for the homeless, giving updates. In addition, she works with the San Diego Riverpark Foundation whose stated mission is “to improve the quality of life of communities throughout the city of San Diego through equitable investments in parks, greenspace, and recreational opportunities.”

This also includes volunteers going out on guided missions to pick up trash and look for people to help at homeless encampments. According to their website, “The people living in the riverbed are members of our community. We start from a value that all people should be respected. We seek to help people by connecting them with services that can help them start on a road to getting away from living in flood-prone areas. We warn people of life-threatening floods from the upcoming storms. We also create and hand out care kits with hygiene items which help build trust.”

Leventhal has also supported the Safe Parking Program at Jewish Family Service.

Raised in North County, she likes living in Chula Vista where she shares a home with her boyfriend and beloved dogs. Her goal is to get more involved with the Chula Vista community.

Her Jewish faith and culture are focal in her life, and she volunteers with the Anti-Defamation League. She mentioned to me that in college, she arranged a tour of the Anne Frank exhibit with the Jordanian Student Union with a talk afterwards. Fighting antisemitism and building bridges are very important to her and she continues to do so.

The following are some questions I asked her.

1] We don’t really know each other, so I went with a gut feeling from your Facebook posts that you do a lot of volunteering. Please tell me about yourself.  

Yes, I do a lot of volunteering. I come by it naturally, as it was a value I learned growing up from my family.

2] Where do you volunteer and what do you do? Any organization you would like to highlight? Why is Tikkun Olam important for you?

I volunteer with several organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, where I serve on several of their committees. I also volunteer on local political campaigns, including Shana Hazan’s re-election for San Diego School Board. I volunteer with the San Diego Riverpark Foundation and the Safe Parking Program at JFS. I also worked with Welcome Home, the former program that helped recently arrived immigrants and refugees get settled in San Diego. Tikkun Olam is important to me because it sets the standards by which we should all aspire in terms of service, community, and kindness toward others.

3] Tell me about your family. Any pets?  What are you passionate about?

My family consists of my parents, my sister, brother-in-law, two nieces, my boyfriend, and many close friends. My boyfriend and I share a home in Chula Vista, alongside my two spoodle (spaniel poodle) pups, Suzy & Katie. I am passionate about many things, including politics, dogs, travel, food, art, and making a difference in the world.

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Mimi Pollack is a freelance writer based in La Mesa, California.