The Helen Diller Family Foundation recently awarded $36,000 to Dillon Eisman from Malibu in recognition of his commitment to tikkun olam, or repairing the world.

Sew Swag founder and winner of the Helen Diller Family Foundation 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award, Dillon Eisman. (photo courtesy of Sew Swag)

In late August at a luncheon at San Francisco’s Four Seasons Hotel, Dillon, along with 14 other young leaders from across the nation, received the national 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award, a prestigious honor given to youth leaders who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, community service and action.

Dillon was selected for this award among hundreds of teens because of his work founding Sew Swag, Inc., a nonprofit that reuses and reimagines donated apparel for homeless youth in the greater Los Angeles area.

The luncheon celebration was the culmination of a weekend-long series of business strategy workshops, networking and mentoring initiatives, during which award winners exchanged ideas with other socially conscious peers and interacted with Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award alumni from years past who are continuing their social justice work.

The foundation also honored Natalie Hampton and Emilia Peters, two 16-year-olds from Los Angeles, for their commitment to service and social good.

Hampton, after enduring persistent bullying and eating lunch alone every day, created Sit With Us, a free lunch-planning mobile app for middle school and high school youth that helps students coordinate lunches with friends or look for open invitations to tables.

Peters co-founded KEM Creative, which brings art to homeless shelters and underserved communities, when she realized Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis meant children on the street don’t have the resources to occupy their time or minds. KEM Creative forges strategic partnerships with organizations like the Alexandria House shelter to bring free, teen-taught art instructions to children in homeless shelters and underserved communities.

Committees comprising community leaders and educators from around the country selected the 2018 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards recipients. Candidates completed detailed applications describing their projects, goals, impact, inspirations and challenges, fundraising tactics, and major accomplishments. Eligible applicants were United States residents, between 13 and 19 years of age at the time of the application deadline, who self-identify as Jewish.

For information, visit dillerteenawards.org.