Orlando needs new ways to bring Jews, Christians and Muslims together. Some of us are doing it. We could use your help.

At the recent Interfaith Youth Conference that I attended in Chicago, I was surrounded by people who are creating new ways to make interfaith and multifaith relationships grow and develop. I have been doing this kind of work for 35 years, and at this conference I had the sense that finally this was a movement whose time had come. Just as in the past I witnessed the launch of the civil-rights movement, the women's movement, the "aging to sage-ing" movement in America, so, too, did I feel I was present at the launch of another great movement whose impact we were just beginning to feel.

Listening to the speakers, I clearly understood that the cynicism and hopelessness that blanket America are unbearable and also incorrect. In the words of Sheik Hamsa Yusuf, an expert on Islam who lectures worldwide and one of the many outstanding speakers at the conference: "It is our job as adults and [I would add as elders] to train children to be saints, not cynics."

So that's what we're doing. In the Multifaith Education Project that has been in existence in Orlando for four years: We are teaching our kids from the three faiths that human kindness transcends everything. We are teaching them hope and we are teaching them pragmatism. We don't want them to grow up as cynics. We emphasize the saint within each one. We honor the God that each one worships. The students worked hard this year to produce their first cookbook of ethnic recipes and the stories that go with them. Breaking Bread: A Celebration of Three Faiths made its debut this week to rave reviews from friends and supporters.

Our kids have learned how similar they are, but more important, they are learning about the differences that exist among them. For it is the differences that cause us to be uncomfortable, even afraid, of one another. The students are learning not to be fearful or suspicious of those differences, but to treat them with respect and honor -- with an eagerness to know more about the "other." Before this, the "other" was someone to be feared, but no more. Now they have learned the value of compassionate curiosity and generous listening. We want you to know that such a world is possible. We are here to assure you that it is!

Without everyone's support, from people of all backgrounds, we cannot ensure the sustainability and success of what we're doing. We're in this together, and together we will make a difference.