Temple Beth El of Greatneck
Great Neck, New York
Goals:
- Community-building, hands-on social action project.
- Address local poverty issues in a direct, on-going way.
- Build relationships with lower income families within the community.
Brief Overview:
Working in partnership with a local hunger advocacy group, the synagogue “adopted” local families by providing monthly boxes of food to help subsidize their living costs. Each month, a variety of congregants (including youth group members, B’nai Mitzvah students, families, etc.) contribute their time and effort to collecting donations, packaging and shipping boxes. Each month, participants put together personalized boxes of canned goods, preserved foods and general stock for pantries to be delivered directly to their adopted family. Boxes are shipped through the mail, maintaining necessary distance between donor and recipient. This project provides low-income families the opportunity to comfortably and honorably receive assistance without visiting a food kitchen or charitable organization.
