Social Action Committee

After many years of a Social Action Committee we streamlined some annual volunteer opportunities into the Merry Mitzvah Project. These are advertised throughout the Jewish Community and we get several non-Jewish participants.  The Merry Mitzvah Project was initiated by Rabbi David Ariel-Joel to offer Jewish volunteers on December 25 to local agencies to assist their clients; it has expanded to about 6 weeks of diverse Holiday volunteer options.

Merry Mitzvah Project

Usually starts in November with sponsorship of dinner at the Volunteers of America Family Shelter during Hunger Awareness Week, this is when we also start collecting warm weather items. We serve meals with St Vincent DePaul, Cathedral of the Assumption and Volunteers of America; play music at Hosparus, and deliver gloves, scarves, and coats to Coalition for the Homeless, Family Scholar House and Volunteers of America. We make and deliver sandwiches to shelters (especially important on holidays when you are given only one meal a day), and curate packages of baked goods for the rabbis to take on their visiting trips. WE are making a difference in the lives of our community. Please come join us for a worthwhile mitzvah opportunity!​​

For more information about the Social Action Committee, contact Mary Jane Baker or Bonnie McCullagh.

Caring Committee

​The Caring Committee’s goal is to help care for our members in a variety of ways. Volunteers visit congregants residing in nursing homes and assisted living facilities or who are homebound. Many times a year we come bearing holiday gifts.  The committee holds periodic “cooking days” to stock the Temple freezer with soups, casseroles, and sweets which the rabbis take on home visits associated with simchas, release from the hospital, or for comfort.

Please contact Susan Waterman if you are able to join our team of volunteers to help us befriend some Temple members who can’t get out like they used to do. Also please let the Caring Committee know if you or a congregant you love would enjoy receiving visitors.