TORONTO — B’nai Brith Canada’s Don Mills Lodge is sponsoring a writing contest for Jewish high school students in the GTA who have completed at least 40 hours of community service.

of community service.

The lodge will award $250 each to four students “whose essays best exemplify the authors’ personal involvement, commitment, and inspiration” in performing required community service hours.

Lodge president Ava Brodsky told The CJN that part of the motivation in organizing the contest was to encourage students  to express in writing what their experiences were, and to continue to volunteer even when they’re no longer obligated to do so.

Essays will be judged by 10 lodge members who are former teachers or have been involved in writing, Brodsky said.

The 52-year-old lodge, a co-ed group with 120 members,  has been involved in many community service efforts as part of the larger service organization.

Among them, members are actively seeking both food and monetary donations to the Kosher Food Bank at Pride of Israel Synagogue, which serves 120 families a week. They also speak to other groups about the need for a kosher food bank.

As well, they have donated money to Lilah’s Fund, which supports research on neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system which is one of the most common cancers in young children.

The lodge’s newest project, the writing contest, was made possible through its bingo fundraisers.

Student essays should be between 350 and 500 words, and must show insight into the community service process and its impact on the student.

Entries must include the student’s name, address, phone number and age, as well as his or her school’s name, address and phone number.

The lodge will accept essays from Feb. 1 to Apr. 30 at [email protected].

Complete information about the contest can be found by going to donmillslodge.com, and downloading the PDF file of the January 2010 Planet lodge newsletter.