Here at Seva we call the acts of generosity and kindness that all our donors and partners in the field display, on a daily basis, compassion in action. Vancouver Talmud Torah's Grade 7 class call those same acts a mitzvah. A new program at Talmud Torah, called The Mitzvah of Valuing Philanthropy, has students researching charitable organizations that provide a wide range of services - locally and internationally. The students give a presentation on their chosen charity to the class and then the students together decide how to allocate grants to the different charities. This year, $18,000 was raised by students from their bar/bat mitzvah gifts, by the students' families and community donors. Seva Canada was very grateful to be included as one of the 20 charities in the program this year by students Shakaed Greif, Lena Arbetova and Adi Pick. The girls visited the Seva office, combed through our website and presented Seva's cause to their class. They were obviously compelling as Seva received a cheque for $850 at yesterday's Ceremony of Giving. We are so grateful to Vancouver Talmud Torah and to Shakaed, Lena and Adi for their compassion, service and mitzvah. We promise to use the funds wisely and well and will dedicate them to restoring sight to children.

Children receiving eye care at a recent Seva eye camp in a remote hill district in Nepal. Photo courtesy of Johannes Burge