Chef Brack May of Cowbell Restaurant will highlight Culinary Arts week of Taglit Camp at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center's Metairie campus. Culinary Arts week will take place August 1 to 5 and is open to children entering grades 6 to 8.
May completed his culinary education at New England Culinary Institute, and he has worked in restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, Florida, North Carolina, Milwaukee, and New Orleans. In 2004, he became owner and executive chef of Green Tomato Productions, a catering and consulting company in New Orleans. He recently opened Cowbell Restaurant on Oak Street.
Participants will learn from May as he helps each individual prepare his or her own Kosher lunch each day. The culinary arts activities will take place in the morning, and participants will have the opportunity to partake in more traditional camp activities such as sports and swimming in the afternoon.
Phyllis Weinstein, chair of the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center, said the center's office had never seen a crowd like this one.
This afternoon, Ruth Siegler signed copies of "My Father's Blessing," a memoir about her experiences in the Holocaust and her journey to a normal life in Alabama. Slated to begin at 3 p.m., the signing started early due to crowds that had already gathered. At times, the line for signatures was dozens deep; within 45 minutes, pre-signed books were gone and only four of the dozen cartons of books remained.
Visitors to the center also viewed the "Darkness Into Life" exhibit, a photography and art exhibit about the life experiences of Alabama's Holocaust survivors.
Siegler and sister Ilse Nathan were in five different concentration camps and lost the rest of their immediate family in the Holocaust. Unusual for a Holocaust memoir, the book contains a large amount of documents from their life in Europe, which they had sent to relatives in the United States.
On October 16, the Temple Beth-El Sisterhood will host Siegler for a program about her book.
Birmingham Mayor William Bell presents a proclamation to Rabbi Zalman Perlman today, as Rabbis Dani Saul and Shmuel Rothstein look on.It isn't every day you see three rabbis, fringes blowing in the breeze, bicycling the back roads of the South. But that's the whole idea behind Bike 4 Friendship.
Sixteen days ago, Zalman Perlman, Shmuel Rothstein and Dani Saul set off from Livingston, N.J. on a 4,000-mile cross-country trip to raise awareness of Friendship Circle, a nationwide Jewish organization connecting teenage volunteers with children and teens with special needs to foster a sense of companionship and community.
Saul said as they travel, "most people see rabbis on bikes, and wonder what we're doing."
The trio arrived in Birmingham today to spend Shabbat with the local Chabad community. They stopped at City Hall this afternoon and received a proclamation from Mayor William Bell, who declared July 21 "Bike 4 Friendship Day."
Bell greeted the visitors with "Shalom," and did a passable pronunciation of "V'ahavta l'reyecha kamocha" (and you shall love your neighbor as yourself) in reading the proclamation.
After Shabbat, the group will continue its 100-to-130 mile per day pace, stopping Sunday night in Livingston, then stopping in the Jackson area, Natchez, Miss., and Leesville, La., before heading into Texas.
The idea started with Perlman having pizza with a friend in Israel when the idea came to him. "We decided we wanted to do something unique. It was over the top, and we really wanted to help an organization that needed a lot of publicity but wasn't getting as much as they should."
He admitted he had never been a biker, but "I decided I can't run across America, so I'll bike."
Rothstein, on the other hand, grew up bicycling in Baltimore. At the age of 12 he was the youngest in Project Jewish Unity, where participants would do long bike rides.
At the kickoff on June 26, 100 special-needs children in New Jersey received specially-designed bikes, from Olivia’s Friendship Circle, a bicycle giveaway envisioned by 11-year-old Olivia Lefkovits as her Bat Mitzvah project. They started the big ride on the third of Tammuz, the yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. On Tuesday, they decided to wait out the fast day of the 17th of Tammuz in Atlanta rather than ride on a day when they could not drink.
In the first three days, debris-laden roads caused 10 flat tires for the group, and Rothstein fell on the first day. Since then, it has been mostly smooth sailing, with only one flat tire.
They mostly went down U.S. 29 and came into Alabama on U.S. 78. They were struck by the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, if not the climbs. "The two-mile uphill was definitely exciting, but it would've been cool if itwas downhill," Perlman said.
"Two hours up, eight minutes down," Saul added.
The three stayed last night in Oxford, using Marriott points donated by a supporter in Philadelphia.
Perlman, who grew up in Los Angeles, said all three of them have lived in big cities, so this is a big change of pace for them. "The hospitality has been unbelievable," he said. The trip "opened my eyes completely to all the ways of life."
Going into the trip, they were most concerned about hills, but having trained in the winter, they were unprepared for the heat -- and once they hit the South, the humidity. They have changed strategy -- departing around 5 a.m. and finishing the day's route by around noon. When they hit Texas, they plan on even more night cycling.
Another aspect of the tour is to visit with 20 Friendship Circle chapters at Chabad centers across the country. There are chapters in Atlanta and Houston. "We don't have a Friendship Circle here in Birmingham -- yet", said Rabbi Yossi Friedman of Birmingham's Bais Ariel Chabad Center. "We have been interested in doing something for a long time, and maybe this event will be the impetus needed to get it going."
The tour also is raising money for Friendship Circle, with donors asked to dedicate miles for $4.
The rabbis' journey can be followed online here.
Located just one block from each other, Touro Synagogue in New Orleans and the Sophie B. Wright Charter School make natural partners. Their partnership has now been recognized on a national level, with the presentation of a national Fain Award from the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism in May.
The Fain Awards were established in 1983 to honor those congregations and URJ camps whose work in the area of social justice proves exemplary. “The winners of the Irving J. Fain Award for Outstanding Synagogue Social Action Programing justly embody what it means to profoundly pursue tikkun olam – repairing the world,” said Dr. Cheryl Gutmann, Chair of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. “Their innovation in the pursuit of justice is truly inspiring.”
Touro joined with the Sophie B. Wright school to help make it one in which education thrives, teachers initiate and innovate, and students get the maximum out of their learning experience.
In her High Holy Day sermon last year, Rabbi Alexis Berk stressed that Touro did not “adopt” Wright, but “we are in partnership with them.”
Rabbi Berk calls Sophie Wright “our neighbor. The thing is, in New Orleans, neighbors know each other, care about each other, reciprocally relate with one another, and have one another’s backs. And, if we can do that in our residential neighborhoods, imagine the connected power on a communal level.”
Long time Touro member Teri Hunter, who leads this partnership effort on behalf of Touro and its Social Action Initiative, stresses this point constantly.
“Adopting a school... that’s almost demeaning,” Hunter said. “We partner with Wright, which shares this corner of the world with us. By partnering, our Touro members who want to help are offered opportunities to work with the students in so many different areas.”
This past year, Wright added two grades, making it a sixth to 12th grade school.
Principal Sharon Clark said “Now we have people rooting for our kids to be successful. The volunteers from Touro have helped us become a better school, academically and socially.”
Clark has been principal there since 2001, and has seen the school system falter for years, suffer through Hurricane Katrina and then become part of the revised and highly praised charter system that is operated through a state agency.
Touro has a long history of social action efforts, such as the annual Mitzvah Day, with initiatives across the city. There’s also the Desmond Project, which involves cooking meals for the homeless each Saturday.
But the Social Action Initiative, chaired by Scott Silbert, knew there was more to do. As Rabbi Berk phrased it, Mitzvah Day is good, but it really should be Mitzvah Life. “Our collective stamina is far greater than we currently realize,” Rabbi Berk stressed. “We needn’t sell ourselves short. There are infinite entry points for engagement in the community.”
Leslie Jacobs, a New Orleanian who is a leader in statewide education reforms, promoted helping in the area of education. She recommended Wright, and the association between Touro and Wright started in May 2009 with a wide range of initiatives.
The congregation held Tikkun Olam days, also called painting days. Two hallways, three classrooms and 17 exterior doors and trims and the window trim of the main entrance were painted.
“We have Teacher Appreciation Days once a month,” Hunter said. “This has been huge. These teachers work tirelessly and it’s time they be recognized. Students can order books through our Sisterhood and thus get discounts. We have collected winter coats, library books, tennis rackets, and prom dresses for distribution to students at Sophie B. Wright. One member of our congregation even contributed 68 new prom dresses to that collection.
“Fourteen Touro members tutor and read with the students weekly. Three motivational and informational speakers were engaged in this past school year. We had meetings with Superintendent Paul Villas to get more dollars for major building work,” Hunter added.
Tzedakah from one Touro family was used toward the purchase of a new flagpole. Another member, who received a U.S. flag in Washington, donated the flag to stand atop the flag pole.
A congregation member treated termite-infested trees at no cost to the school.
Hunter, who headed Touro’s social action efforts in the 1990s, credits Rabbi Berk with inspiring more social action. “She was the fire behind this whole thing. To her, Judaism is more than religion; it’s helping other people in the community. Social action had been under the surface at Touro. Rabbi Berk made it volcanic.”
When the congregation decided to pursue the partnership, Hunter met with Clark. “I had to prove myself and Touro. I asked her what she needed, maintenance, tutoring, painting? And I continue to go there at least once a week. And just to show our overall commitment, the rabbi participates in many of the things we do and she also addresses the entire student body from time to time.”
Clark also sees other benefits. “Our students and teachers are learning about different cultures. The volunteers are not working in isolation around the school. To have this kind of support is very uplifting. It just creates a good feeling throughout the school.
“And I want to stress this is a give-and-take. Our band participated in Touro’s Jazz Fest Shabbat service and we cooked for some of their special after-service meals. It’s all just great.”
Hunter said it’s important that Wright, its staff and students, view Touro has a supportive partner and that a level of trust must exist. “A true relationship has begun and it will continue to grow,” she said.
School partners in the region
In 2007, Mobile’s Ahavas Chesed became a Partner in Education, working with Woodcock Elementary School. Volunteers from the congregation visited on a regular basis, reading to classes or doing one-on-one mentoring and tutoring, assisting with administrative activities, or monitoring lunch to give teachers a break.
Many students and teachers also attended the Ahavas Chesed Men’s Club Chanukah parties.
The Partners in Education program in Mobile county linked 1100 businesses, organizations and religious institutions with area schools, in an effort to improve education in the county.
On Oct. 30, 2008, Ahavas Chesed was one of 13 recipients of the Outstanding Partner in Education award.
Ahavas Chesed Rabbi Steve Silberman said the award showed the type of difference the 130-family congregation could make in the community, and praised the level of participation in the effort.
The Mobile County School Board closed the school in May 2009 because of declining enrollment, and the city last year approved a lease of the building to use as a community center. Ahavas Chesed then started working with Leinkauf Elementary.
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In Jackson, Beth Israel teamed with two nearby churches to adopt McLeod Elementary, the neighborhood public school, in 2008, through Partners in Education.
Recently, the school went from “Academic Watch” to “High Performing.”
Among the activities is a semi-annual Literacy Day, where congregants go to the school and are split up among classes to do group reading, and encourage independent reading, especially over the summer.
In December, First Book donated 1200 books to McLeod students, and Beth Israel assisted with the giveaway, also coordinating holiday gift bags. Congregants also serve as Book Buddies.
The congregations also hold a teacher appreciation luncheon at the end of the year, and this year the congregations were presented with Hawaiian plants in appreciation of the partnership.
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Two years ago, the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s Community Relations Committee took part in a national initiative to highlight issues of poverty, doing programs on the theme of “FED UP With Hunger.”
This year, volunteers Hilary and Scott Gewant have spearheaded “FED UP With Illiteracy,” a hands-on effort to partner with area schools to promote reading proficiency.
A team of almost 30 volunteers is working with students at Glen Iris Elementary and Grantswood Community School each week.
One regular volunteer is a Glen Iris alumna, Anne Cohn, 91, who works with the first grade and was recently featured on Fox 6 News’ “What’s Right With Our Schools.” She also recruited her daughter-in-law, fellow Glen Iris alumna Eileen Cohn, and several other volunteers from her New Horizons group at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Glen Iris Principal Michael Wilson told the Federation, “Some individual attention and interest is often what makes a difference. Thanks to you all for what you are doing for my children.”
Win tickets to the concert: See below for details.
On July 28, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta, will be at numerous theaters in our region.
“Live From Jerusalem: An Evening With the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra” will be shown on a delayed same-day broadcast in 480 movie theaters across the United States, all at 7 p.m. local time, on the NCM Digital Broadcast Network. Filled with majestic arias and duets, the performance includes a sweeping visual and audio experience that will bring down the curtain on the Jerusalem Season of Culture 2011.
Featured on the broadcast will be soloists Renee Fleming and Joseph Calleja. The concert “will take audiences of all cultures and generations on a journey to Jerusalem to experience exclusive performances conducted and performed by the world’s greatest talents,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom.
In Alabama, the broadcast will be at Regal Cinemas in Trussville and the Hollywood 18 in Huntsville; Rave in Daphne, Vestavia and Festival Plaza in Montgomery; and the Hollywood Stadium 18 in Mobile. In the Florida panhandle, locations are the Raves in Destin and Bayou 15 in Pensacola. Louisiana locations are Regal Citiplace 11 in Baton Rouge, Hollywood Stadium 14 in Covington, AMC Elmwood Place in Harahan, and Cinemark Perkins Row in Baton Rouge, Cinemark 14 in Lake Charles, and Tinseltowns in Shreveport and West Monroe. In Mississippi, participating theaters are the Cinemark Tinseltown in Pearl, and the Cinemark 16 in Gulfport.
Fathom is giving away two tickets per venue to Southern Jewish Life readers. Winners will be drawn at random from entries received by Friday morning, and will receive the tickets by mail. To enter, click here.
Known as "America's Beautiful Voice," Renée Fleming has a devoted international following wherever she appears, whether on the operatic stage, in concert or recital, on television, radio or on disc. Known as “the people’s diva” and named the No. 1 female singer by Salzburger Festspiele Magazine in 2010, she continues to grace the world’s greatest opera stages and recently received her third Grammy for the Decca recording, "Verismo."
Already one of the tenors most sought after by leading opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic, Joseph Calleja has routinely been compared to “legendary singers from earlier eras: Jussi Björling, Beniamino Gigli, even Enrico Caruso” (Associated Press). Calleja’s engagements have placed him in 28 leading roles and taken him to virtually every major European city, an outstanding achievement for a 33-year-old.
Internationally-renowned orchestral and operatic conductor Zubin Mehta has had a remarkable association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for five decades. He was appointed the orchestra’s music director in 1969, a position that was extended for life in 1981. The bond that was established between Mehta and the IPO, Israel’s finest cultural emissary, has grown into what he calls a “lasting marriage” of creative prosperity. For his outstanding work with major orchestras and opera companies around the world Mehta has garnered numerous awards including a Kennedy Center Honor in 2006 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
On July 28, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta, will be at numerous theaters in our region.
“Live From Jerusalem: An Evening With the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra” will be shown on a delayed same-day broadcast in 480 movie theaters across the United States, all at 7 p.m. local time, on the NCM Digital Broadcast Network. Filled with majestic arias and duets, the performance includes a sweeping visual and audio experience that will bring down the curtain on the Jerusalem Season of Culture 2011.
Featured on the broadcast will be soloists Renee Fleming and Joseph Calleja. The concert “will take audiences of all cultures and generations on a journey to Jerusalem to experience exclusive performances conducted and performed by the world’s greatest talents,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom.
In Alabama, the broadcast will be at Regal Cinemas in Trussville and the Hollywood 18 in Huntsville; Rave in Daphne, Vestavia and Festival Plaza in Montgomery; and the Hollywood Stadium 18 in Mobile. In the Florida panhandle, locations are the Raves in Destin and Bayou 15 in Pensacola. Louisiana locations are Regal Citiplace 11 in Baton Rouge, Hollywood Stadium 14 in Covington, AMC Elmwood Place in Harahan, and Cinemark Perkins Row in Baton Rouge, Cinemark 14 in Lake Charles, and Tinseltowns in Shreveport and West Monroe. In Mississippi, participating theaters are the Cinemark Tinseltown in Pearl, and the Cinemark 16 in Gulfport.
Fathom is giving away two tickets per venue to Southern Jewish Life readers. Winners will be drawn at random from entries received by Friday morning, and will receive the tickets by mail. To enter, click here.
Known as "America's Beautiful Voice," Renée Fleming has a devoted international following wherever she appears, whether on the operatic stage, in concert or recital, on television, radio or on disc. Known as “the people’s diva” and named the No. 1 female singer by Salzburger Festspiele Magazine in 2010, she continues to grace the world’s greatest opera stages and recently received her third Grammy for the Decca recording, "Verismo."
Already one of the tenors most sought after by leading opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic, Joseph Calleja has routinely been compared to “legendary singers from earlier eras: Jussi Björling, Beniamino Gigli, even Enrico Caruso” (Associated Press). Calleja’s engagements have placed him in 28 leading roles and taken him to virtually every major European city, an outstanding achievement for a 33-year-old.
Internationally-renowned orchestral and operatic conductor Zubin Mehta has had a remarkable association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for five decades. He was appointed the orchestra’s music director in 1969, a position that was extended for life in 1981. The bond that was established between Mehta and the IPO, Israel’s finest cultural emissary, has grown into what he calls a “lasting marriage” of creative prosperity. For his outstanding work with major orchestras and opera companies around the world Mehta has garnered numerous awards including a Kennedy Center Honor in 2006 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
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| Donna Askenazi, center, organized the bake sale today at the Levite Jewish Community Center. |
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| Lauren, Alexis and Beth Greenwald bring goods from Atlanta |
As Donna Askenazi was being asked by the local Fox affiliate about her friends, Robin and Joshua Berry, the emotions began to come forth this morning.
Behind Askenazi, a bake sale she organized was in full swing at Birmingham's Levite Jewish Community Center, raising money for the Berrys' three children. On July 2, the family from Houston, Tex., was on the way back from a vacation in Colorado when an oncoming car swerved into their lane and hit them head-on. The parents were killed, and their three children were injured in the wreck -- Peter, 9; Aaron, 8; and Willa, 6. The older boys suffered spinal cord injuries and are paralyzed from the waist down. The daughter has a broken arm and ankle.
Though few in Birmingham's Jewish community knew the Berrys, the quickly-organized event drew a slew of bakers and customers, raising $3,600 -- double chai.
Askenazi grew up with Robin Berry in Houston, attending the same congregation and traveling to Israel together. Askenazi's husband was a fraternity pledge with Joshua Berry at the University of Texas. "She went to my wedding, I went to her wedding," Askenazi said. Robin Berry was a Tulane graduate.
After the wreck, Askenazi spent five days in Houston, visiting the family during shiva. She found out about two bake sales that were organized in Houston to benefit the children, and upon returning to Birmingham went straight to Garth Potts, LJCC executive director, and said "I have to have a bake sale."
She recruited friend Jamie Stern to help coordinate the sale. By 9 a.m. several long tables were laden with goods from individuals and businesses; there were no pricetags, just goods in exchange for donations.
Maddie Stern, 10, emptied her tzedakah box for the effort. Many just stopped by to make donations -- and it wasn't just a Birmingham effort.
An hour after the sale began, Beth Greenwald, Alexis and Lauren arrived with a large shipment of baked goods from Atlanta. Greenwald said when she heard Askenazi was doing this for their friend, "we said we're going to coordinate Atlanta and help." The goods they brought were labeled "Baked for the Berrys" and had the website for the fund that has been set up for the children.
After the event, Askenazi said "I am so touched by the generosity of the Birmingham community. It was very overwhelming and I am very humbled by this experience."
According to the Jewish Herald-Voice in Houston, about $40,000 has already been raised in grass-roots efforts in Houston, from bake sales, dog washes and an upcoming "Bowl for the Berrys." Fundraisers are being organized in Chicago, where the boys will undergo rehabilitation. A lemonade stand in Baltimore raised $1000 today.
Levi Aron, who is charged with the murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky in Brooklyn on Monday, had recently lived in Memphis. The case has rocked the Orthodox community in Brooklyn, as both the victim and the accused are part of the community.
Kletzky was walking home from day camp and asked Aron for directions. His dismembered body was found on Wednesday morning. According to media reports, Aron showed up for work on Tuesday at Empire State Building Supply as if nothing had happened.
Aron married in 2004 and was divorced within a year. In 2005, he met Debbie Kivel on a Jewish matchmaking site and moved to Tennessee to be with her. They married, and he worked as a security guard, and as a butcher in the kosher deli at the Kroger in Germantown.
In 2006, Kivel filed a protective order against him, and they divorced later that year. He returned to Brooklyn.
Yesterday, Aron was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He pleaded not guilty to the crime, but police say he has confessed.
Kletzky was walking home from day camp and asked Aron for directions. His dismembered body was found on Wednesday morning. According to media reports, Aron showed up for work on Tuesday at Empire State Building Supply as if nothing had happened.
Aron married in 2004 and was divorced within a year. In 2005, he met Debbie Kivel on a Jewish matchmaking site and moved to Tennessee to be with her. They married, and he worked as a security guard, and as a butcher in the kosher deli at the Kroger in Germantown.
In 2006, Kivel filed a protective order against him, and they divorced later that year. He returned to Brooklyn.
Yesterday, Aron was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He pleaded not guilty to the crime, but police say he has confessed.
The Birmingham Jewish community is responding to a tragedy in Houston's Jewish community with a bake sale to benefit the surviving children of a couple that was killed in a car wreck on July 2.
Donna Askenazi and Jamie Stern are organizing the bake sale, which will take place at the Levite Jewish Community Center on Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Askenazi said Robin and Joshua Berry were "dear friends" who "lived life to the fullest and had everything going for them."
They were returning from a family trip to Colorado when a car veered into their lane and hit them head-on in Fort Stockton. Their three children were injured in the wreck -- Peter, 9; Aaron, 8; and Willa, 6. The older boys suffered spinal cord injuries and are currently paralyzed from the waist down. They were recently accepted to the Shriners Hospital in Chicago, which specializes in pediatric spinal cord rehabilitation.
Willa has a broken arm and ankle, and is now staying with relatives in Houston. Because she was alert when troopers first arrived, she was able to provide critical contact information on the scene.
There is now a Facebook page for the trust, where donations can be made. The Jewish Herald-Voice reported that a neighborhood bake sale where the Berrys lived raised $10,000 on July 13, a trunk show raised another $5,000, and on July 28 four congregations are holding a "Bowl for the Berrys" event.
Anyone wishing to contribute goods to the Sunday bake sale can bring them by the LJCC starting at 7:30 a.m., or drop them off at the Askenazi or Stern homes on Saturday. More information is available here.
Donna Askenazi and Jamie Stern are organizing the bake sale, which will take place at the Levite Jewish Community Center on Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Askenazi said Robin and Joshua Berry were "dear friends" who "lived life to the fullest and had everything going for them."
They were returning from a family trip to Colorado when a car veered into their lane and hit them head-on in Fort Stockton. Their three children were injured in the wreck -- Peter, 9; Aaron, 8; and Willa, 6. The older boys suffered spinal cord injuries and are currently paralyzed from the waist down. They were recently accepted to the Shriners Hospital in Chicago, which specializes in pediatric spinal cord rehabilitation.
Willa has a broken arm and ankle, and is now staying with relatives in Houston. Because she was alert when troopers first arrived, she was able to provide critical contact information on the scene.
There is now a Facebook page for the trust, where donations can be made. The Jewish Herald-Voice reported that a neighborhood bake sale where the Berrys lived raised $10,000 on July 13, a trunk show raised another $5,000, and on July 28 four congregations are holding a "Bowl for the Berrys" event.
Anyone wishing to contribute goods to the Sunday bake sale can bring them by the LJCC starting at 7:30 a.m., or drop them off at the Askenazi or Stern homes on Saturday. More information is available here.
The Jewish Children’s Regional Service is collecting names of families for its Chanukah gift program. The New Orleans-based social service agency is looking for families with minor children that need help purchasing and securing gifts for their children.
The agency serves a seven-state region that includes Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Every year, the agency sends out between 2,000 and 3,000 wrapped Chanukah gifts to Jewish children and youth in the region. Gift bags are also sent to institutionalized adults who might not otherwise be able to celebrate Chanukah. The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services will honor JCRS for this program on July 20.
Every child or institutionalized adult who is signed up for this year’s program will receive a bag with at least eight wrapped gifts, one for each night of Hanukkah.
Along with the name of each child, the JCRS will need to know as much contact information as possible. The agency also needs the age, gender and child’s interests.
Sample gifts include sporting goods, trading cards, toiletries, toys, books, games, hair accessories, stuffed animals, clothing, and school supplies. All gifts are age, gender, and, when possible, interest specific.
For institutionalized adults who are referred, JCRS will need the complete address and the name of a staff member at the facility.
In addition to its Chanukah gift program, the JCRS also funds camp and undergraduate college scholarships and funding for special needs services for youths who reside in its seven state coverage area.
JCRS accepts donations to support the Chanukah gift program. Since all gifts need to be small, new, age appropriate, and also need to be wrapped, stored, and shipped, the JCRS encourages monetary support of this program instead of product donations.
For more details on the gift program, visit www.jcrs.org or call (800) 729-5277. The agency’s address is P.O. Box 7368, Metairie, LA 70010-7368.
The agency serves a seven-state region that includes Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Every year, the agency sends out between 2,000 and 3,000 wrapped Chanukah gifts to Jewish children and youth in the region. Gift bags are also sent to institutionalized adults who might not otherwise be able to celebrate Chanukah. The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services will honor JCRS for this program on July 20.
Every child or institutionalized adult who is signed up for this year’s program will receive a bag with at least eight wrapped gifts, one for each night of Hanukkah.
Along with the name of each child, the JCRS will need to know as much contact information as possible. The agency also needs the age, gender and child’s interests.
Sample gifts include sporting goods, trading cards, toiletries, toys, books, games, hair accessories, stuffed animals, clothing, and school supplies. All gifts are age, gender, and, when possible, interest specific.
For institutionalized adults who are referred, JCRS will need the complete address and the name of a staff member at the facility.
In addition to its Chanukah gift program, the JCRS also funds camp and undergraduate college scholarships and funding for special needs services for youths who reside in its seven state coverage area.
JCRS accepts donations to support the Chanukah gift program. Since all gifts need to be small, new, age appropriate, and also need to be wrapped, stored, and shipped, the JCRS encourages monetary support of this program instead of product donations.
For more details on the gift program, visit www.jcrs.org or call (800) 729-5277. The agency’s address is P.O. Box 7368, Metairie, LA 70010-7368.
On June 29, Jewish women from across America were in the North Smithfield Manor community in Birmingham, installing windows in the Wilkerson family home with workers from Habitat for Humanity.North Smithfield, located next to where the future Interstate 22 will link up with Interstate 65, was one of many communities leveled by the April 27 tornadoes, which killed 241 people in Alabama and destroyed thousands of buildings in 43 of the state’s 67 counties.
The women were a delegation from the Jewish Federations of North America National Women’s Philanthropy group, which spent three days in Birmingham to meet with the community and learn about the tornado devastation.
Shortly after their arrival, they had a briefing at the Levite Jewish Community Center with the Birmingham Jewish Federation, Collat Jewish Family Services and United Way.
Trish Hoover from United Way told them that the faith-based communities “did not wait for instructions” and started helping immediately after the storm hit. Now, the groups are part of a coalition to coordinate relief efforts, and FEMA is looking at Alabama’s response as a national model to replicate elsewhere.
Every Monday, a group of about 100 representatives from various groups meet to put the plan together, with an eye toward a three or four year process.
Currently, CJFS is “anxiously awaiting the opportunity to do case management” as individuals are funneled through FEMA and insurance claims, said Executive Director Lauren Perlman. The agency, which first did case management following a 1998 tornado outbreak, is already handling emergency cases that can’t wait for the usual channels.
Gail Norry, who chairs NWP, said the group was set up as a way for women to “touch and feel their philanthropy.” The group has done several projects in the New Orleans area post-Katrina, including a book drive centered around last November’s General Assembly.
“A trip like this is a huge part of why women get involved in the organizations that they give to,” said co-chair Nelle Miller. “Although we have raised funds in our individual Federations and through JFNA, we are lucky to be able to go to Birmingham, and actually use our hands to help out in some way.”
Karen Kramer of Philadelphia echoed that. “If you’re going to be the change, what is your next step? We do a lot of fundraising, but this is the hands-on Tikkun Olam.”
By coincidence, the Birmingham Jewish Federation was holding its annual meeting the night that the group arrived, so the delegates got to meet a wide range of community members.
The group toured the devastation in Pratt City, meeting with Phyllis Wyne, who set up a summer camp for children affected by the tornadoes. Kramer said Wyne saw “this was an issue and they pulled together that camp. These kids have nowhere to be, their neighborhood is gone.”
Even more remarkable, Kramer noted, is that Wyne did all this despite her home being destroyed. “She said, I still have to do something for the community.”
Standing outside the Wilkerson home, Norry said “we’re very anxious to come back, to bring more women from around the country and take on other projects.”
She added, “everybody’s been unbelievably hospitable, and have made us feel not only welcome, but like we really can make a difference, which is what we want to do.”
The group also discussed other possible projects they could undertake where women who are not able to come to Birmingham can participate.
Kramer said, “It’s easy for us to drop in and say here we are… but the Birmingham community is inspiring.”
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