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Ongoing
Programs
Family
Table is
Greater Boston's Jewish Food Pantry. A program of
Jewish
Family and Children's Service, in
collaboration with the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts, the Hillel
Council of New England and the Jewish Community Relations Council of
Greater Boston, it is our communal response to Jewish individuals and
families who cannot afford the basic necessities of life. Once a month,
two weeks worth of food, special holiday foods, personal hygiene items
and paper goods are distributed to Jewish families in need.
Temple Beth David currently collects crackers and couscous as part of
this effort. Volunteers deliver this food to the Family Table
monthly and volunteers can also help sort and deliver packages to these
families. For
more information, contact our Temple liaison,
Amy
Fiorino at
afiorino@comcast.net
Yom
Kippur Food Drive is
conducted each year by our Senior Youth Group, NAWDTY. Congregants donate
the food they are not eating during the Yom Kippur fast to help feed the
hungry. This food drive annually collects large quantities of
nonperishable goods at a time of year when many food pantries have great
need. Collections are distributed to Family Table and to local food
pantries.
Pie in
the Sky is
a fundraiser for Community Servings, a non-profit organization that
delivers meals to many individuals who are homebound with terminal
illnesses such as AIDS, ALS, cancer, etc.
This annual bake sale offers delicious Thanksgiving pies baked
and contributed by some of the best restaurants in Boston. Each pie
costs $25 which will provide a one week supply of food to an AIDS
patient. For
more information contact:
Avi
Glaser at aviglaser@comcast.net
Community
Servings, in Jamaica Plain, is always in need of volunteers to help in preparing meals or delivering meals or helping out in their office. For
more information or to get involved contact Volunteer Recruitment at Community Servings, 617-522-7777, ext. 228.
Boston
Jewish Coalition for Literacy
is a program of
the Jewish
Community Relations Council of Greater Boston and an
affiliate of the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy. The
Coalition is funded by Combined Jewish Philanthropies and United Way of
Massachusetts Bay. You can organize a book drive or tutor a child who
needs help reading through this organization.
For information or to volunteer contact the Jewish Community Relations
Council of Greater Boston directly at 617-457-8600 or email literacy@jcrcboston.org
Project
Ezra is
the annual Christmas day feeding program established in 1986
by the
Synagogue Council of Massachusetts in which over 1,500 Jewish volunteers
from more than 70 synagogues and organizations across the Commonwealth
staff shelters and feeding programs, enabling Christian volunteers and
workers to share the holiday with family.
Temple Beth David has been sending volunteers and desserts to the
HopeFound (formerly Shattuck Shelter) in Boston for many years. Contact Avi Glaser at
aviglaser@comcast.net
for more information.
Partakers
is an interfaith
organization that breaks down the walls which
separate prisoners from free citizens. Its long term goal is to
promote the rehabilitation of prisoners to our society. Through
the College Beyond Bars Program, prisoners at Norfolk County
Prison can obtain a BA degree. Prisoners qualify by completing a
correspondence course, and then taking courses at the prison sponsored
by Boston University. They may take four to six years to obtain their
degree. Volunteers mentor the prisoner by meeting with them once a
month in the prison. The volunteers do not tutor the prisoner but rather
guide and encourage them in their quest. Many prisoners have very little
support from family and friends. Mentorship is a very helpful to them.
Temple
Beth
David has become the first synagogue to join the number of
churches already active in this effort. We have four volunteers to
visiting a prisoner at Norfolk Correctional Institute every month.
If you are interested in participating, or would like to know more
about Partakers, you can visit www.partakers.org
, or contact Joyce Levine at arljol@yahoo.com.
A
Mitzvah
Project Book is
available in our library. This
lime green notebook
is a mechanism for congregants to share information
about an organization or activity that they have found worthwhile.
Although many of the contributions to this resource come from Bar
and Bat Mitzvah students, any member of the congregation is welcome to
contribute or to take a look at the projects.
Massachusetts
Coalition to Save Darfur
Temple Beth David has joined
organizations across Massachusetts dedicated to ending war and genocide in
Sudan. The
mission of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur is to stimulate,
support and facilitate the efforts of faith based and secular
organizations in Massachusetts to stop the genocide, rape and other
crimes against humanity being committed in the Darfur region of Sudan. It is estimated that 400,000 people have been killed, over 2
million have been forced to leave their homes, and countless women have
been raped and beaten. Learn more at http://www.savedarfurma.com
.
Volunteer to help by contacting Ellenjane Scheiner at ejscheiner@aol.com.
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