Jewish Atlanta Embraces Giving Spirit

Consecutive Sundays saw community members disperse across the Atlanta area to work with nonprofit organizations on mitzvah projects.

On Oct. 25, Jewish Family & Career Services’ Mitzvah Day for young adults sent more than 200 volunteers to 12 project sites. The work included planting 100 bushes and trees around the new JF&CS group home at Camp Twin Lakes, weeding three beds of carrots and prepping six planting beds at Concrete Jungle, planting five garden beds with kale and broccoli at the Historic Westside Gardens, organizing the pantry and library and cleaning the basement at Hope Lodge, presenting a concert for 50 people at the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community, staining ramps and a deck at the Zimmerman-Horowitz Independent Living Program home, organizing clothing and transitioning the closet from summer to winter at New American Pathways, packing over 150 toiletry kits for JF&CS Mitzvah Projects, removing 75 bags’ worth of invasive species from the Oldcastle Nature Trail, cleaning crates and walking dogs for PAWS Atlanta, packing 732 meals for Project Open Hand, and organizing an ice cream social for 36 residents of the William Breman Jewish Home.

On Nov. 1, despite rain showers throughout the day, more than 300 volunteers spread out to 18 sites, including a few of those assisted a week earlier, for the Epstein School’s Yom Tzedakah. By partnering with community members to benefit nearly 20 charitable organizations, the school practiced one of its core values, tikkun olam (repairing the world). Among the projects:

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• Old crayons were baked into new shapes and attached to healing cards for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Scottish Rite facility.
• Thank-you holiday cards for U.S. soldiers were prepared for “The Bert Show’s” Big Thank You.
• Through Epstein’s Environmental Footprint program, the school’s Educational Garden was planted, weeded, reaped, cleaned and provided stepping-stones.
• More than half a ton of food was sorted and packed at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
• Residents at the Cohen Home, an assisted-living facility in Johns Creek, were engaged in social activities, including a Senior Olympics.
• Toys, blankets and other comfort items for dogs and cats were made at the Atlanta Humane Society’s Mansell Road facility in Alpharetta.
• School kits and toiletry kits were assembled and winter blankets were made for the people Simple Needs GA supports.
• Birthday and get-well cards were made for older adults in Jewish Family & Career Services’ Aviv Celebrations program.
• Outdoor maintenance, including gardening and raking, was carried out to support families participating in HomeStretch’s transitional housing program.

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