By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
Volunteerism has been part of Merit Pinker’s life since before college. Now she is helping build volunteer efforts in Portland’s Jewish community as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. 
“We are excited to have Merit in this new volunteer coordinator role based on findings from our community study,” Federation President and CEO Marc Blattner said. “Merit is an experienced Jewish communal professional and look forward to her ‘jumping right in’ and making great things happen.”
Following a childhood in Dallas, Pinker attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., in large part because of its reputation as an incubator for community service.
“It was known as a school for volunteerism; it was a campus with one of the highest rates of student community service,” she said. “I did a lot of community service while I was in Memphis.”
Following her studies, Pinker continued her pursuit of public service by joining the Peace Corps, which saw her head out for what was planned to be two years in Sierra Leone before the COVID pandemic cut her service to just nine months. 
“At first they were like we might come back and then after like a week or two, it was very clear we were not going back,” Pinker recalled. 
Back in the United States, she headed for Atlanta, where her partner was in law school, and took on a role with Hillels of Georgia, the unique umbrella organization for Hillels throughout the state. She was eventually promoted to Development and Marketing Manager, a role she continued to work in remotely even as she and her partner were drawn westward. 
“I moved to Portland because of all that Portland has to offer in terms of lifestyle and the outdoors,” Pinker explained, noting she is an avid hiker and skier. 
Her partner took on a role in Portland after law school; after two years of remote work, Pinker decided it was time to invest her energy in the Jewish community here in Portland. 
“I got involved with Moishe House and OneTable and other organizations geared toward young adults,” Pinker said, “and I found the Pathways program.”
The PDX Pathways young adult mentorship program application process put Pinker in touch with Federation Associate Campaign and Engagement Officer Laura Jeser. 
“I was telling Laura that one of the reasons I want to join this program is because I’m looking for a job here in Portland,” Pinker recalled. “She said, ‘Well, we have this job open at Federation. It seems like you might be a good fit. You should look into it.’”
Pinker did, and her passion for volunteer service now carries over into the next stage of her career.
“One of the things that they told us in our Peace Corps orientation that still really resonates with me is: If you are expecting you know to change the world or even change an entire community, this is not the place for you because it’s just not the type of impact that one person often has. But if you can reframe and think of this as your opportunity to influence one, two, three lives and really look at it on a person-to-person level, you’re going to have an impactful service,” she said. “That resonated with me so much because that’s what volunteering has always been for me. It’s a way to connect to my community and connect to individuals in my community on a very personal level and the kind of an impact can that a community have as a unit.”
In her new role, Pinker is looking to build on a clearly documented interest in volunteer service amongst Portland Jews.
“The Community study that came out in 2023 that found 47 percent of Jewish adults in Portland are volunteering regularly, but only 19 percent of those Jewish adults are volunteering with the Portland Jewish community,” Pinker said. “So it seems like this major gap where there’s clearly an interest for volunteering.”
She’ll be looking to connect people interested in volunteer service with existing opportunities to do so, but also to build new avenues for volunteer service to be a connection to deeper engagement with Jewish life in Portland for those who are looking to find their  place therein. 
“[Volunteering is] a way for people to access the Jewish community that doesn’t have some of those barriers that people identified as making it hard to join the Jewish community,” Pinker said. “There’s no religious affiliation associated with it. There’s no necessity for preexisting Jewish knowledge associated with it. It’s a very low barrier way to access to Jewish programming and Jewish community.”
Those interested in participating in or creating opportunities for volunteer service in Portland’s Jewish community are encouraged to contact Pinker at merit@jewishportland.org.