Christmas Dinner for the Hungry

Congregation sponsors an annual Christmas Dinner for their local homeless, distributing meals, toys and care packages to families in need.

Community Contact Information:
Temple Israel
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.tioh.org/

Goals:

  • Provides a warm holiday meal, care packages, and everyday necessities to those in need.
  • Provides an opportunity for congregants to perform the mitzvah of tzedakah (Deut. 15:11).
  • Recognize the responsibility of a congregation to the greater community.

Overview:

Congregation organized an annual Christmas dinner for local homeless population including cooking and preparing meals, acquiring many donated items and presents, and coming together in the spirit of tikkun olam. This long-standing program (since 1980) is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when caring community members mobilize and join together in a common cause of social justice.

Preparation: Prior to the event, community members are recruited to serve as volunteers. Local organizations came together in partnership to donate time, energy, Many individuals are involved in this effort to acquire donated items, package care packages and toys, cook and serve the meal, set-up and clean up, etc. Congregants are asked to make financial and material donations to this project as well as help acquire donations from local Foundations, donors, businesses.

Implementation: On December 24, a set-up day includes families coming together to package hundreds of care packages and to decorate the room. On December 25, over 200 families came together to serve 1,800 hot meals, distribute toys to 700 children, and hundreds of packages including blankets, health items, shoes, jackets, socks and more.

Results: This family-friendly project not only serves the needs of the local homeless community but also is used as a “teachable moment” for many children to the issues of local poverty. It provides an opportunity for the congregation to get involved in local issues and partner with organizations in its own neighborhood.

A congregant shared, "Last year, a man I did not recognize was giving out toys to the children. When I asked him what his affiliation was, since I did not recognize him from the Temple or from any of the other organizations that participated, he smiled at me and said that he had attended our dinner two years earlier as a guest, when we was homeless and without hope. And he said that when he saw so many people caring about him on that day, he decided that he had to start caring as well. He said he entered a rehab program the next day, soon after that he found a job and a place to live, began a relationship, and came back to help others - just like we helped him when he was in need. We are hoping that this man becomes more the rule than the exception!"