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SOCIAL ACTION Social Action meetings Soup Kitchen Volunteers needed: We are looking for people to help out at the Food N Friends Friday supper which is held at the Memorial Baptist Church on route 152 in Seekonk on September 24, 2010. Help is needed with meal preparation, serving and clean up. Meal preparation begins at 3.30 pm. Please contact Donna Cohen Avery at dca2@comcast.net or (508) 241-0837 if you are able to assist with this Mitzvah. High Holiday Food Drive: Please bring donations of non-perishable food to the Synagogue between now and Simchat Torah. Remember – Social Action…It’s a Mitzvah! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Religious School/Social Action Committee Partnership To Feed the Hungry! The Social Action Committee and the students of our religious school started a new partnership to help feed the hungry. Congregation Agudas Achim provides volunteers to work at one Friday Food N Friends soup kitchen each month. Now in addition to volunteering our energy, our students will bring food donations to the kitchen to distribute directly to those in need. Each class will sponsor a food drive from January through May beginning with the Zayin class. Personal Care Items Many personal hygiene items cannot be purchased with food stamps. Therefore donations of items such as Kleenex and toilet tissue are also welcome. This is the list of things we can do for Tikkun Olam. We will leave it up for your perusual. Help South American Jews rediscover their Jewish heritage: We will be gathering used Judaica items again this year to be donated to Jewish congregations in Latin America. If you have Judaica that you no longer use or need but don’t want to throw out (because you just can’t do that with Judaica!) then rummage through those closets and bureau drawers and bring it to the temple. There will be a special bin for deposits. Once collected, the items will be sent to Rabbi Cukierkorn of the New Reform Temple in Kansas City, Missouri. He has a standing relationship with small Central and South American Jewish communities. His synagogue works closely helping these small communities reclaim their heritage by teaching Jewish practices and providing Judaica to these emerging Jewish communities. The collected donations are hand-delivered each summer. Please contact Donna Cohen Avery at d.ca@verizon.net or (508)241-0837 if you are interested in attending the next Social Action meeting. Bears On Board The new teddy bear is the child’s to keep and love. You can drop your donation off at The Attleboro Sun Chronicle’s offices located in downtown Attleboro. Six thousand bears have been donated since the program’s inception in 1993. Donate Gently Worn Formal Dresses Donate Warm Winter Clothing Donate to a Food Pantry Several local supermarkets are accepting donations for local food pantries. Check in your store next time you do the shopping for your family. This makes donating especially convenient. Leave your non-perishable food donations at the Synagogue in the bin in the hallway anytime during the year. Donations will be given to the food pantry in Attleboro or food n friends soup kitchen in Seekonk. Donate your used cell phone and accessories Donate Used Toys Give Tzedakah: If you decide to give a monetary donation this year, please consider some of the following organizations at home or in Israel: Food N Friends Homes with Heart Finding Homes for the Homeless Its purpose is to find and secure permanent housing for chronically homeless persons. Once this is accomplished, case management will be provided to assure support and services for the clients. This may include health insurance and care, nutrition and budget education, counseling and community integration through volunteerism. Starting Over With Your Help Starting over introduces many new challenges for clients, their needs are varied and immediate. The Homes With Heart Program provides shelter but not funds to furnish the apartment. Cash Donations are needed to manage clients needs in a timely manner. Some known needs include utility deposits, laundry cards, prepaid phone cards, train passes to get to appointments or soup kitchens, prescriptions, eye glasses and clothing. Mazon, a Jewish Response to Hunger: Visit the Mazon website at http://www.mazon.org to make a donation. Founded in 1985, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is a national, nonprofit agency that allocates donations from the Jewish community to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. Each year, MAZON grants over $4 million to more than 300 carefully screened hunger-relief agencies, including emergency food providers, food banks, multi-service organizations and advocacy groups that seek long-term solutions to the hunger problem. MAZON (“food” in Hebrew) believes its dual purpose is to provide for those who are hungry today and to address the systemic causes of hunger and poverty, both domestically and globally. Although grants are provided to many organizations serving the Jewish poor, in keeping with the best of Jewish tradition MAZON believes it is important to respond to all who are in need. The American Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (ASPNI) – was founded in 1986 to help raise awareness and support for the work of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), Israel’s oldest and largest environmental organization. Visit their website at: www.aspni.org for more information about making a donation, call them at 800-411-0966 or send your donation to: Maon Lev-Ham (Warm Heart) – is a special kindergarten that cares for children with serious birth defects. They are a very small private organization without a website or large fundraising department. The children there find warmth, love and happiness. They are given the physical care for their special needs while at the same time working to improve their motor skills and mental abilities. The Lev Ham is in a constant fiscal struggle due to the high costs of the special staff and equipment these children require. The children at Lev-Ham are from families who don’t have the means to pay for expensive care. Send your donation to: Hot Plate – Salachat Hama – is a small soup kitchen and “salvation army” type of place that does very good work in areas the government misses. They provide free hot meals at lunch time. Most of their guests are senior jewish immigrants from Russia and Ethiopia, elderly, single mothers and muslim arabs from surrounding villages. They have a services that reaches people who are house bound like “meals on wheels” here at home. All of the work is done by volunteers and the services are free to those who need them. Many recipients also volunteer their time. They also distribute used clothing. This program is very proud of the fact that they do not discriminate. Their motto is: A person in need, is a person in need. Volunteer in your community: Want to volunteer in the community? Need some ideas? Here are a few helpful web links. In Massachusetts:
Food n' Friends Soup Kitchens In 1985, Food N’ Friends opened the first Food ‘n Friends Kitchen at Centenary United Methodist Church in Attleboro serving free meals to the needy each Saturday. At the first meal 3 people came. There are now 6 kitchens serving hundreds of nutritious meals in Attleboro, North Attleboro, Seekonk and Mansfield. For many it will be the only warm meal they receive that day. Volunteers from local youth groups, churches and the synagogue take turns preparing and serving the meals. The mealtime numbers are growing every month, and this year they anticipate serving over 40,000 people. Please call the Attleboro Area Council of Churches for more information, to volunteer, or to make a donation. Here is the list of the six kitchens.
Homes for Our Troops raises donations of money, professional building labor, and building materials from manufacturers to build specially adapted homes for our most severely wounded soldiers coming home with life-altering injuries and disabilities. Each home is built to accommodate the specific veteran and when complete, donated to them. This enables the veteran to focus on his / her recovery and to start rebuilding their lives. Volunteer Positions Include: Key Volunteer Staff History: Since its inception, Homes for Our Troops has completed 33 specially adapted home building projects for our severely injured veterans and have many more projects around the country in various stages. The organization is always in search of donations of funds, professional services, building materials, and key volunteers to help them accomplish their mission to rebuild the lives of our severely injured service members. Social action is also part of our Religious school curriculum and each grade has specific Social Action concepts and goals that they focus on during the school year. The goals are developed by the religious school administration and teachers but often connect with events that are coordinated by our committee. If you are interested in finding out more about the Social Action Committee, please contact Donna Cohen Avery at (508)241-0837 or d.ca@verizon.net . We welcome your participation. Watch our Synagogue calendar for upcoming meeting dates. Remember – Social Action…it’s a Mitzvah! |
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