Social Action Committee -- Repairing the World, a Bit at a Time
Social Action concentrates on help for our local community, with a special commitment to Chester, where both Ohev Shalom and Mispallelim began. We look for projects that increase our personal contact with the people we're helping, and give us knowledge of the of local agencies that are working to relieve hunger, provide safe, decent housing, and give children a better start on life. To volunteer or join our mailing list, please email Fran Stier (or call her at 610.543.0815).
To learn more about Jewish teachings on hunger and tzedakah, click here
To read what the Torah says about tzedakah, click here
Family Mitzvah Projects at Ohev Shalom
High Holiday Food Drive:
(Sept/Oct). Ohev Shalom's Yom Kippur food drive benefits the Mitzvah Pantry, the Bernadine Center (a food pantry in the Highland Ave section of Chester), and Wesley House (a family shelter in eastern Chester). We hand out bags and lists of the foods, baby supplies, and toiletries that are most needed on Rosh Hashanah, donations come in at Kol Nidre on Yom Kippur, and we sort them at our Sukkah decorating party. Click for pictures (All ages)
LifeCenter Dinners:
First Sundays of January, March, May, July, September, November. We bring dinner to the LifeCenter, a shelter and soup kitchen in Upper Darby, and serve it to 150 clients. Takes about 2 ½ hours; but you glow for a week. (adults & teens 12 and over)
Thanksgiving Food Drive:
Sunday before Thanksgiving. Ohev Shalom families bring in frozen turkeys, stuffing mix, canned vegetables, and pies, for Chester Eastside Ministries to distribute to needy families in Chester. Here are pictures (All ages)
Adopt a Family:
December. Ohev Shalom "adopts" two or more families through PathwaysPA ( http://womensassoc.org/ formerly Women's Association for Women's' Alternatives) and fills their holiday wish lists. PathwaysPA helps families that have experienced abuse and neglect reach independence. The clothes and toys and books mean so much for these Moms & kids. (All ages).
Martin Luther King Day:
Ohev Shalom and Delco Chai host Moms and kids from shelters in Chester for crafts, cookie baking, and lunch at Ohev Shalom. Kids pick books to keep for their own, play board games, get their nails painted. It's a busy, happy day.
Mishloach Manot:
February / March. The Jews of Shusan celebrated their deliverance with "days of feasting and gladness and sending portions to their neighbors" (Esther 9:22). We keep the mitzvah of mishloach manot by making sure everyone in the congregation gets a few of Sisterhood's luscious hamentashen. Decorate a bag or two, deliver it to a congregant, and share the joy of Purim.
Hamatz Drive:
March/ April. Families donate their unopened containers of hametz (leavened foods) to the Mitzvah Food Project of Jewish Federation, for use after Pesach. (All ages).
Baby Manna:
May. Ohev Shalom families and Mispallelim students donate change to help Greater Philadelphia Food Bank buy baby formula for babies whose families could not otherwise afford it.
Sshool Backpacks:
July 2005. Collect school supplies and backpacks and change at Ohev Shalom's Summer Picnic. Every year, CityTeam Ministries in Chester collects supplies so that 2,500 financially needy students start the school year with the equipment they need to learn. http://www.cityteam.org/ . or talk to Daniel Himelstein or his parents, Andrew and Rima
Reading Partners:
Monday
afternoons, 4-5 PM, a car full of teens and adults heads to Family Management
Center in Chester, to read with elementary school-aged kids in their after-school
program. We bring a big bag of books. Each kid picks a book,
and either reads it to their partner, or the
partner reads it to the kid. Then we write the kids name in the
book, and it's theirs. Volunteers sign up for when their schedule
permits."
Ways you can help:
activities with parents & kids at shelters in Chester help Ohev Shalom's
volunteers feed the hungry in Upper Darby's Life Center.
For all of these, call Fran Stier 610 543 0815 or email her