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Social Action
Committee
How Can You Help?
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For further information on any events, E-mail: socialaction@kolhaverim.org
Committee Activities
There are certain times during the year when some people seem to be in a more "giving" mood than others. Yet food drives, clothing drives, sharing time and money with those in our community who are less fortunate -- all these mitzvot are needed year round. That's why our Kol Haverim community is an active, "Social Action" congregation all year long. Here are some of the ways our congregants are currently "giving" to our community. Please think about getting involved in one of a variety of activities. Spend a few hours sharing in the joy of helping others, or contact us with new ideas about how to improve our efforts of tikkun olam, healing the world. Social Action is not the work of a committee; it's the responsibility of our entire Jewish community…and it feels great!
Literacy Volunteers
Read all about it. Change the world--one child at a time! There's a Jewish
saying "when you save a single life, it is as if you have saved an
entire world". Here's your opportunity to save the world, in no time
at all. Spend just half an hour a week tutoring a student at a school
in the greater Hartford area for the Hartford Jewish Coalition for Literacy.
Teach a child to learn to read, so they can read to learn, and achieve
academic and economic success.
Habitat for Humanity (Habitat Haverim)
Habitat builds affordable houses for families. These families must put
in 400 hours of "sweat equity" work into their homes, and they
need your help one Sunday per month - or even just one Sunday! Volunteers
need NO prior building experience. Most Habitat volunteers have experience
ranging from none to minor home repairs. Many of you have heard the stories
of your grandparents coming to the U.S. and living in crowded, inadequate
housing. Here's your opportunity to assist the present generation of new
Americans improve their lives by obtaining decent housing for their families
and themselves. Make Habitat one of your weekend habits! Habitat Haverim
was founded in 1994 as a joint project of the Jewish Federation of Greater
Hartford and Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity, working with local Jewish
congregations and agencies.
Soup Kitchens
Join us in the kitchen, where the Jewish joy of sharing food with others
abounds. Try it, you'll like it! On the first Friday of each month, help
prepare and serve food at either Loaves & Fishes, or South Park Inn,
which are both community kitchens in Hartford. Our biggest need for volunteers
is at Loaves & Fishes, where we need about 8 people, age 16 and above
to cook and serve between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. We also
need helpers at South Park Inn at 3:30 p.m. And what's a meal without
dessert? Any time you want to bake, or have leftovers from a party, please
bring them to the synagogue, put them in the freezer, and mark them for
the Soup Kitchen. Your sweetness will be greatly appreciated.
Mitzvah Day
Mitzvah Day is a congregation-wide service day that takes place on the
first Sunday in May. Last year, congregants of all ages and interests
participated in the following three Mitzvahs:
Walk Against Hunger: Foodshare's biggest fundraiser, helping our 100,000
hungry neighbors. See the Walk Against Hunger description on our website
for more information about this 3-mile walk.
Glastonbury Health Care Center: Volunteers from the congregation spent
time visiting and chatting with some lucky residents at the Health Center
right next door to the synagogue.
Dwight Elementary School: Congregants joined with Dwight School staff
to help beautify their school - planting shrubs and flowers, mulching,
painting murals, and painting hopscotch and other games on their blacktop.
Winter Clothing Drive
Our annual clothing drive is held at the synagogue during a week in January.
Volunteers sort and box the clothing, and to bring it to local charities.
Even if you can't volunteer, please remember to drop off your seasonal
clothing in good, clean condition right in the synagogue cloak room. It
will give you a warm feeling to keep others warm this winter.
Walk Against Hunger
Can you "Walk the Walk?" The Walk Against Hunger is Foodshare's
biggest fundraiser of the year. It takes place in Hartford on the first
Sunday in May. Over 3,000 walkers raise money to help Foodshare, the regional
foodbank for Hartford and Tolland counties, and it's supporting agencies.
Foodshare distributes food to over 230 agencies like community kitchens
(including Loaves & Fishes and South Park Inn), food pantries, and
emergency shelters in our area. They help feed over 100,000 people each
year, 43,000 of whom are children. It's guaranteed to be a beautiful day
for a walk, so start talking the talk about the Walk with your family
and friends. We're also looking for someone to help generate interest
amongst congregants for this important event, which is part of our Mitzvah
Day activities.
Dwight Elementary School in Hartford
Our congregation has "adopted" Dwight Elementary School in Hartford,
where many immigrant families from Eastern Europe and around the globe
attend school. In the fall, we provided the kids with new and gently used
clothing they could wear as school uniforms. Before Thanksgiving, our
congregants contributed turkey, potatoes, veggies, stuffing, and pumpkin
pie mixes to make memorable Thanksgiving dinners for over forty Dwight
families. This winter, we had a Mitten and Hat drive to give the students
a warm, fuzzy feeling during the cold weather. In the Spring, we hope
to collect art supplies to help brighten the Dwight classrooms, in addition
to including Dwight School in our Mitzvah Day activities, making their
outside environment a more welcoming place to greet its students.
High Holiday Food Drive
Each Yom Kippur, at a time when we purposely deprive ourselves of food,
our congregation also remembers the people in our community for whom eating
is not a choice, by holding a food drive for our hungry neighbors. This
"Food for Families" is distributed to local hunger agencies.
If you are interested in helping coordinate this food drive next year,
let us know. It's an easy project, and it's very rewarding.
Red Cross Blood Drive
Each November and June, we help the Red Cross by being a Blood Drive location.
Next year, we would like to increase our presence in this life-giving
mitzvah, by not only offering a location for the Blood Drive, but also
more congregant donors, and volunteers to provide food and beverages for
the donors. Contact us if you would like to help increase our participation.
Spend Time With Kids at a Shelter
This winter, we had a great time making ginger bread houses with children
at My Sister's Place Hartford, a homeless shelter for women and children
in temporary need of housing. Our congregant families helped show a "home,
sweet home" to some less fortunate neighbors. Other family activities
are being planned for the spring.
"Let's Do Lunch" Bagged Lunch Program
Who wants to "do lunch"? Grab a brown bag, fill it with a nutritious
sandwich, a drink, fruit, snack, and a sweet treat, and bring it to the
synagogue on one of our designated "Let's Do Lunch" Sundays.
Lunches brought to the synagogue before 12:00 noon on "Let's Do Lunch"
Sundays will be delivered by volunteers to a shelter for victims of domestic
abuse. Please let us know if you're interested in helping staple flyers
to brown bags, or delivering lunches to the shelter. This project is so
easy, it's "in the bag!"
Crop Walk
Want to "Walk with the World?" CROP WALKS occur in more than
2,000 towns and cities across the US, every autumn. They've raised $186
million in the last 15 years. Congregation Kol Haverim, along with many
of Glastonbury's churches and other faith communities participated in
this event by walking and sponsoring walkers to raise money for those
in need around the world. CROP WALK contributes 25% of their proceeds
to the Glastonbury Food Pantry, and donors can choose the organization
that receives the remainder of their contribution. The CROP WALK takes
place in October, and is sponsored by the Glastonbury Interfaith Association.
So next year, don't fall behind. Harvest your family and friends early
next autumn and be ready to walk with the world.
Christmas Day Volunteering
Over the years, our congregants have shared their time to help make the
Christmas holiday brighter for our neighbors in Glastonbury and Hartford,
by volunteering at the Hebrew Home, delivering meals in Hartford through
the Salvation Army, and providing food and entertainment at the Naubuc
Green in Glastonbury. Who would like to re-kindle more interest in this
tradition?
Environmental Issues
Tikkun Olam, healing the world, is not only about helping people,
it's also about improving our environment. There are a number of projects
our congregants have suggested that would impact our local environment.
Finding a "clean up" project at a local park, researching the
feasibility of recycling "non-recyclable" plastic bags (without
the #2 marking)…the possibilities are endless. Which of our "green"
congregants would like to get down in the mud to tackle one of these projects.
Let us know if you can shed some light on some of these issues.
