The Social Action Committee reflects the spirit of Tikkun Olam and Tzedakah within the CBE community by encouraging participation in a wide range of charitable activities, community service projects, and social justice initiatives.
Apple Picking in the fall with apples donated to the local food pantries - Back row: Rob Mendelsohn, David Leers, Lori Lotterman and Michelle Jacob. Front row: Amelie Mendelsohn, Ariel Levine, Aryn Leers, Alexa Kushner, Aaron Jacob.
Don Harris, Sam Rubin, Eddie Rubin, Craig Maiman, and Ellen Maiman at Habitat for Humanity in Hudson, MA
Upcoming Events
Household Good Recycling Ministry
CBE has volunteered at HGRM (Household Good Recycling Ministry) in Acton for the last several years on the second Sunday of every month from 1 to 4PM.(HGRM) based in Acton, MA that provides household goods, free of charge, to people in need. Volunteers help clients find the household goods that they need in the large HGRM warehouse and load the goods into their trucks. This is a great volunteer opportunity for adults and teenagers
If interested, contact Maida Fund at Maida.Fund@hp.com OR 978-263-8570.CBE’s next volunteer dates are Sunday Nov. 14th and Dec. 11th.
Jewish Family and Children's Services Family Table
Jewish Family and Children's Services Family Table distribution day in Waltham, is a wonderful social action activity for families, kids and adults. Volunteers are assigned to collect food pantry items and deliver them to those in need. Pantry items include pasta, peanut butter, rice, milk, canned fruits and vegetables, baby formula, diapers, etc. Additionally, there are fresh food items, such as meats and fresh vegetables.
The next CBE planned event for JF&CS Family Table is Sunday December 11th. If interested contact Eddie Rubin ateddie.rubin@gmail.com
Feed the Hungry at WHEAT
We are seeking volunteers to cook and serve dinner at WHEAT’s Community Café in Clinton on Sunday, January 29. We'll cook at the temple or at private homes and freeze the food during the prior week. We'll serve the meal on January 29 from about 4:00 - 7:00 PM. You can cook or serve or both. All ages are welcome! If you're interested, please contact Ann Budner at a_budner@yahoo.com. For more information, visit www.wheatcommunity.net
Recent Events
Add Meaning to Your Yom Kippur Fast
In the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this year, as in years past, Congregation Beth Elohim collected donations for disaster and hunger relief in observance of the age-old Mitzvah of Tzedakah on Yom Kippur. This year we collected donations to three organizations: Congregation Shir Shalom, Mazon and American Jewish World Service (AJWS). On a local level, Congregation Shir Shalom, in Woodstock, Vermont is aiding those whose lives were devastated by hurricane Irene.And on a global scale, Mazon is a Jewish organization that provides grants to the most effective hunger-relief organizations in the United States, Israel and developing countries around the world.Finally, AJWS is an international development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the developing world regardless of race, religion or nationality. To make an even bigger impact this year all donations WERE MATCHED from Social Action's named fund account. hhtp://www.woodstockvtjewish.org http://www.mazon.org/ http://www.ajws.org/ This campaign is an activity of the CBE Social Action Committee. If you need more information, please call Barry & Jo-Anne Nyer at 978-264-0206.
All presenting donors in August received a coupon for a FREE box of 6 pieces of chocolate dipped fruit from Edible Arrangements.
On Sunday, June 12th, and Sunday, July 10th, we worked at HGRM (Household Goods Recycling of MA) from 1-4pm. This was a great way to spend time with your teenager and get them community service hours. If you'd like more information about HGRM go to http://www.hgrm.org/
On
Sunday, July 17th, we went to the Jewish Family & Children's
Services Family Table in Waltham once again to help set up the pantry,
sort and package food donations, package specific orders for recipient
families, and then deliver to those recipients who couldn't get to
JF&CS.
On Sunday, April 10th, a mix of regulars and newcomers helped families pick out goods at HGRM. As always, Maida Fund led the charge with support from our Orna and Yuval Shohet and Jennifer and Maddie Friedman. It was a pretty busy day with more clients than volunteers but everyone was patient and attended to in short order.
On Sunday, April 24th, a crew of around 12 people visited the Cor Unum Meal Center in Lawrence to help serve Easter dinner to a large number of families. As always this was a very rewarding experience for those involved and want to thank Shane Perkins for helping to coordinate this. The Cor Unum Meal Center is a not-for-profit meal center that provides free, nutritious meals in a safe environment to anyone who is in need of food. They serve hundreds of people every day, with a small core staff and a large army of volunteers. If this is something you'd be interested in doing in the future please contact Shane at spx2@verizon.net.
On Sunday, May 1st, we helped support Mitzvah Day. Ann Budner, Barbara Michaelson, and others helped the 6th graders prepare food for WHEAT Community Services in Clinton. The following Sunday a few families helped serve the food. Below is a write-up by one of the servers.
OUR VISIT TO WHEAT’S COMMUNITY CAFÉ
MAY 8, 2011
As some of you know some very helpful volunteers including the Hollenberg/Budner family, the Michaelson family and Yana Kozhukhin helped out at WHEAT Community Services in Clinton. WHEAT is a community food center that helps people that are having a little trouble getting food. WHEAT’s Community Cafe serves some good quality meals for those that need them. The kids in the 6th grade helpfully made all this yummy food. The food we served that day was chili, garlic bread, lasagna, and broccoli. For dessert there was cake, cookies and brownies. We served all different kinds of people with all different kinds of disabilities. It was really fun!
After we left we felt really proud of all that good work we did to make that a good Mother’ Day for everyone around us.
We encourage all of you to one day help out some of the world’s problems to make us closer to getting world peace.
Lily Hollenberg, age 9
Also part of Mitzvah Day we held a blood drive. A big thank you to Bob Becker, Leslie Schroeder, Jill Shaya,and Julia Solarte for helping at the registration and registration tables. We had 50 people come in to donate and collected 40 pints of blood. It was a wonderful day because so many of you made the time to come in and help.
Finally, on Sunday, May 15th, a few families jumped in at the last minute to help pack and deliver food at Jewish Family & Children's Services Family Table in Waltham. A big thank you to Michele and Bill Barabash and Marcy Hoban for making the trip and showing that CBE can be counted on in a pinch.
