April 14, 2024
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Westchester Reform Temple 2024 Mitzvah Fair!
We hope you will spend time today doing some hands-on mitzvah projects together and learning about different ways to get involved in social action at Westchester Reform Temple and in our larger community.
In a post-October 7 world, our Jewish identity is more important than ever, which includes the value of tikkun olam. Our WRT community will continue to support those who are marginalized and need extra support, because that is who we are at Westchester Reform Temple, and that is who we are as the Jewish People.
Remember, as the Rabbis taught, “you are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” As we do this work together, and discover how much more we can do, we can bring a little more light into this world.
Am Yisrael Chai,
WRT Clergy and Director of Social Impact and Community Engagement
Table Numbers and Locations
Inside Tent: Tables 1 – 12, and 18
Outside Perimeter of Tent: Tables 13 – 17, 19 – 21
Inside Social Hall: Tables 22 and 23
All Donations should be brought to Table 23
WRT “photo booth” inside Social Hall
MITZVAH FAIR 2024 PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
Backyard Sports Cares
Brief Description of Services
Backyard Sports Cares supplies sports and recreation programs to underserved and special needs children in Westchester County.
Volunteer Opportunities
The main program takes place at Purchase College on Sunday morning during which a teen mentor is paired with a child on the autism spectrum. Volunteers range from 7th grade through high school and are expected to attend all sessions.
Children’s Hope Chest
https://www.childrenshopechest.com
Brief Description of Services
The mission of The Children’s Hope Chest is to provide help and offer hope to children in our community suffering from poverty, abuse, neglect and illness. Children’s Hope Chest strives to increase social action by promoting adult and youth volunteerism.
Volunteer Opportunities
The Children’s Hope Chest offers volunteer opportunities all year long starting at the high school level (9th grade and up).
Clay Art Center
https://www.clayartcenter.org/
Brief Description of Services
The Clay Art Center is the largest and most active ceramic facility in the tri-state area, serving over 25,000 people in-person and virtually each year. Their Community Arts program awards over 500 full and partial scholarships & provides free ceramic classes, and engages school &b community groups in public art mosaic projects. The Clay Art Center believes that the arts can touch and enrich lives and play a significant role in social change and, as such, is committed to an anti-racist agenda by offering stimulating and culturally diverse programs in their studio practice, exhibitions, and education to better serve diverse communities.
Volunteer Opportunities
The Clay Art Center relies on volunteers to make their events a success. They have a wide range of volunteer opportunities listed on their site, including on and off-site special events, fundraising, PR and marketing, photography, and clay volunteers.
Grad Bag
Brief Description of Services
Grad Bag’s missions is twofold: to support underserved college-bound students and to advance sustainability. Grad Bag provides a more equitable transition to college by collecting, refreshing, and repackaging lightly used dorm room essentials for redistribution to incoming student in need.
Volunteer Opportunities
Starting mid to late May through July, Grad Bag will need volunteers to help clean, sort, and repackage all of the dorm room items that are collected. Some work is outside – such as washing plastic containers and more. Some work is inside – sorting and folding sheet sets, blankets, towels, etc. Grad Bag is seeking hard working high school students, college students, and adults who are willing to get their hands dirty. There also may be some opportunities for younger children, such as sorting hangers.
HOPE Community Services
https://www.hopecommunityservices.org/
Brief Description of Services
HOPE is a community service organization in New Rochelle, NY, providing emergency food services, housing, children’s supportive programming, and a full array of social services to all in the community who may need it, with dignity and respect.
Volunteer Opportunities
Packing pantry bags, pantry distribution, kosher and senior deliveries, Community Kitchen meal services.
IsraAID Global Humanitarian Aid
www.israaid.org
Brief Description of Services
IsraAID, founded in 2001 as a coalition of Israeli organizations working in disaster relief and international development, is the largest global humanitarian and organization headquartered in Israel. Over the past 22 years, IsraAID has honed expertise in responding to disasters, epidemics, and post-conflict situations in every corner of the world. IsraAID’s teams are specialists in providing emergency medical care, post-trauma mental health support, essential relief items, and water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions.
From earthquakes and hurricanes to epidemics and forced displacement, IsraAID has been at the forefront of responding to major humanitarian crises worldwide providing humanitarian aid in 62 countries and currently working in 17 countries – including, for the first time, at home in Israel.
Volunteer Opportunities
Join IsraAID’s Better Together movement and adopt an IsraAID project of your choice. Take action for social justice and vital humanitarian causes like education, safe water, and mental health, the global refugee crises and disaster relief. By raising $5,000, your community can have a real and powerful impact, from installing safe water solutions in Guatemala to building kitchens to feed children in refugee settlements in Kenya and Uganda.
Miracle League of Westchester
https://mlwny.org
Brief Description of Services:
The Miracle League of Westchester is a league for special needs children and adults that enables them to play baseball at a specially designed adaptive field.
Volunteer Opportunities
Buddies are a vital part of the success of the Miracle League. Each player is assigned a buddy for each game. They help protect the player from balls, assist the player in batting and running the bases, and to be a friend. Buddies receive a Miracle League shirt for their participation and can also earn credit for service hour requirements for school programs, church and temple groups and other community organizations.
My Sister’s Place
Brief Description of Services
My Sister’s Place strives to end domestic violence and human trafficking through comprehensive free services, advocacy, and education.
Volunteer Opportunities
General volunteering: mitzvah projects and drives for personal hygiene items, diapers, and wipes. High school students, college students, and adults are welcome to volunteer in person.
NewFlex Youth Programs
https://newflexhoops.com/
Brief Description of Services
NewFlex youth programs connect underprivileged youth and communities to mentoring, academic help, educational programs, sports, and more.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer Opportunities include tutoring, office administration, youth sports coaching (basketball, volleyball, tennis, fitness), and small group activity opportunities (i.e. arts and crafts, computer training). Ages 16 and up are preferred. B’nei Mitzvah youth welcome for some projects.
NMDP
https://bethematch.org/
Brief Description of Services
Formerly known as Be The Match, NMDP is a global marrow donor program that focuses on marrow and cell therapies.
Volunteer Opportunities
NMDP offers a variety of ways to become involved including volunteering at a registration event, hosting a donor registration event, supporting patients during their transplant journey, fundraising, and joining NMDP legislative advocacy efforts.
The Sharing Shelf
Brief Description of Services
The Sharing Shelf was founded to address clothing insecurity and meet the basic material needs of low-income children and teens in Westchester County.
Volunteer Opportunities
Youth volunteers under 14 years of age can get involved by helping to provide clothing and everyday essentials to the children The Sharing Shelf serves. Organize a drive or complete an at-home project from a menu of options found on the website. Options range from creating hygiene kits for babies, children or teens to running a diaper, sock, or underwear drive. 14 years old and up can volunteer in person with a parent actively volunteers alongside them. Adults of all ages are welcome.
GET INVOLVED AT WRT AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Mitzvah Corps
The WRT community has many different entry points into Mitzvot opportunities – ECC Mitzvah Corps, Family Mitzvah Corps, Teen Mitzvah Corps, and WRT Mitzvah Corps. Through a combination of hands-on activities, learning experiences, and goods drives, WRT strives to better our world by doing mitzvot.
Cooking4HOPE
Our Cooking4HOPE team makes hot meals and sandwich bags for HOPE Community Services and other local organizations addressing food insecurity and food access in Westchester County.
Environmental Impact
WRT strives to be a zero waste community and is committed to being a leader in sustainability and green practices.
Racial Justice Working Group
The WRT Racial Justice Working Group empowers congregants to grapple with the role that race has played in shaping America. Through personal and communal work, the working group strives to use this understanding to build a better local and national community.
Tzedek Box
Tzedek Box offers a way for all of us to be impactful, be mindful, and be just. Whenever you or your family participates in an act of tzedek, any deed that makes the world a better place, take a moment to pause and reflect upon your social impact by recording your deed, and placing your reflection in your Tzedek Box. Through a grant from WRT’s Jacobs-Freedman Fund for Innovation in Jewish Life, and the WRT Social Impact and Community Engagement Fund, every WRT household received a Tzedek Box this past year.
Want to get involved in Social Impact at WRT? Email Sharon Stiefel, Director of Social Impact and Community Engagement at sharon.stiefel@wrtemple.org.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
To the Social Impact Council: Allison Friedland and Nancy Michaels (Co-Chairs), Isabel Block, Karen Frommer, Adam Hellegers, Danielle Holtzman, Jeff Mutterperl, Julie Schnur, and Sharon Weinberg, for organizing this event.
To our many WRT congregants who volunteered as part of the Mitzvah Fair Team, including Women of Reform Judaism and Men of Reform Judaism.
To the WRT Confirmation Class and Teen Mitzvah Corps for organizing the Car Wash at the Mitzvah Fair.
To the generous donors who support the WRT Social Impact and Community Engagement Fund, for making this event possible.
To the WRT Facilities Team for their hard work in making this event a reality.
To learn more about Social Impact at Westchester Reform Temple visit: https://wrtemple.org/impact/
To make a donation to the WRT Social Impact and Community Engagement Fund, visit https://form.jotform.com/wrt/WRTSF.