mitzvah day

2018 Mitzvah Day was held on Sunday, Feb. 11.

Thank you to our Chair people, Rachel Samek and Caryn Musaffi, for coordinating this beautiful day; to our 90+ captains for creating 35 awesome projects; and to our 800+ volunteers for showing up to do God’s work. 

ON MITZVAH DAY WE:

• Fed 365 men, women and children at the Chapman Partnership and brought books and smiles to many
• Created 350 food bags for food insecure children in our community
• Packed boxes and boxes and boxes of clothing for those in need
• Designed “super” capes for children in the hospital so they would feel a superpower to heal
• Cleaned local parks and beaches
• Assembled dozens “preemie packs” for premature newborns at Jackson
• Raised over $4000 for Rise Up Ventures
• Purchased countless meals in the scavenger hunt at Publix for Kosher Food Bank
• Poured love into 100 birthday kits for children for the Kosher Food Bank
• Created over 100 lentil-stew-mix jars for the Kosher Food Bank
• Distributed 4000 granola bars for the homeless
• Donated blood and platelets
• Provided dental check-ups for at-risk youth
• Supported VIBE 305: A job-training food truck for inner city young men
• Made seniors smile with a little schmooze, entertainment, plants, and puppy love
• Found puppies wonderful homes
• Gave children in need a day of fun and enrichment
• BROUGHT OUR COMMUNITY TOGETHER IN FRIENDSHIP AND REPAIRING THE WORLD

Rise Up for Soup:  A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Our 5^th Annual Soup Contest was a great success.  Each soup was more beautiful and delicious than the next.  Steve Zuckerman spoke beautifully about the organization he founded, Rise Up Ventures.  Rob Newman and Gary Ressler kept the crowd laughing, and our 11 chefs delighted us with nourishing and delicious soups.

The winners were:

1^st Prize:  Christina Farhy for her African Groundnut Stew

2^nd Prize:  Candace Wish for Auntie Cando’s Hearty Green Soup (also the Popular Vote Winner!)

3^rd Prize:  Andrea Wagner for her Hot and Schvitzy Soup

Many thanks to Betsy Mateu, Jaleh Bast, and Dana Grodin for chairing this tasty project that raised over $4000 for Rise Up Ventures.