Dine Out For Life
Imagine being able to save a life by going out to dinner. That is exactly what Dine Out For Life is all about. It is a city-wide program in which restaurants, on an appointed day, agree to donate a portion of that day's receipts to AIDS support organizations. It is as simple as going out to eat. Advertise the event through local media to maximize participation. Contact the AIDS support organizations in your area to find out if your community has a Dine Out for Life program and become a sponsoring organization, or initiate the program if it does not yet exist. For more information, please contact the Religious Action Center.

Host Project
The Host Project, sponsored by Congregation Rodeph Shalom (New York, NY), provides relief and support services to families who have come to the city to care for loved ones with AIDS. At Rodeph Shalom, the project is staffed by ten volunteers—including a doctor, an advocate for the homeless, people employed in the arts, a rabbi's widow, and a variety of other professionals—who work in teams to provide support and a Jewish community away from home. Support services include providing directions and other logistical information; finding affordable housing; participating in hospital visits with the patient and family; and bringing food and arranging for observance of Jewish holidays while away from home.

The SHOFAR Project—Synagogues Helping Others Foster AIDS Resources
The Temple Emanuel (Worcester, MA) SHOFAR Project is a multifaceted, AIDS awareness/action project initiated in September 1994. SHOFAR provides assistance, support, advocacy and education for central Massachusetts individuals who are infected with, affected by, at risk for, or concerned about HIV/AIDS. The SHOFAR Project has attracted approximately 150 volunteers from the congregation who have worked on the wide range of programs in the project.

These programs include planning and arranging baby showers that provide gifts appropriate for the needs of children with pediatric AIDS or children of parents with AIDS; preparing food for a monthly lunch program; establishing an AIDS library and resource center in the temple; participating in an AIDS awareness Shabbat service and a special AIDS Passover Seder; involvement in the AIDS Memorial Quilt program, as well as the Worcester Community AIDS Walk; and involvement of individual temple members as volunteers with AIDS Project Worcester (APW). Volunteers with APW use their professional skills and talents and can also serve as buddies, advocates, and transportation and food bank volunteers. SHOFAR has developed a close-working relationship with AIDS Project Worcester to assure that SHOFAR is meeting the needs of the community's AIDS clientele.

The SHOFAR project is continuing to expand. Plans are being made to staff and serve a monthly communal meal at APW. New education programs and consciousness-raising materials are being developed. Programs geared to the nursery school, religious school, and youth group are being prepared. A fund-raising lapel pin has been created to help sustain the project.

*Recipient of the Irving J. Fain Social Action Award

Holiday Gifts for Children with AIDS
Temple Emanu-El (Oak Park, MI) received an Irving J. Fain Award for its project "Holiday Gifts for Children with AIDS." In recent years, Temple Emanu-El's list has included 200 children who are HIV positive or who live in a family with HIV-positive siblings. Through donated gifts (or gifts bought at a minimal price), each year every child receives at least three gifts.

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