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Jewish community shares in holiday giving
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BY: ARLENE FINE Senior Staff Reporter
In mid-December a large van overflowing with board games, toys and holiday cookies pulled into the Kathryn Tyler Neighborhood Center in East Cleveland.
Jumping out of the van were B’nai Jeshurun Chesed Committee co-chair Stacey Hader Epstein and Rabbi Hal Rudin-Luria. They began handing the bags of donated gifts to the older children at the center and to the teachers who had run outside to greet them.
“For two months we had a large bin in the B’nai Jeshurun lobby requesting gently used or new educational board games and toys for the needy children and teachers at the center,” says Hader Epstein. “Some of what we brought will be used in the day care center and after-school classrooms, and other items will be distributed to families for their holiday gifts.”
The Kathryn Tyler Neighborhood Center was selected because its East Cleveland location resonated with many B’nai Jeshurun congregants. “This area used to be the heart and soul of the Jewish community,” says Hader Epstein. “So many of our members can still relate to those memories.”
Providing clothing and holiday toys for 14 of the neediest families at Gearity Elementary School in University Heights was the mission of Phyllis Wachs, social action coordinator of the Park Synagogue Sisterhood.
Armed with a list of ages and clothing sizes of 42 elementary-age children, Wachs and other volunteers went shopping. “We allocated $40 each for clothing and $30 each for toys,” says Wachs. Money for the holiday gift-giving came from Sisterhood funds, Rabbi Joshua Skoff’s discretionary fund, private donations, and a sizeable gift from an anonymous “angel.”
Members of Park Sisterhood who are also part of Beachwood’s “Happy Hookers,” knitted 80 scarves and 50 sets of hats and gloves for the Gearity students on the list.
Wachs, who along with other Park Synagogue members, tutors at Gearity School, says the school population has changed dramatically due to redistricting, and there are now many needy students.
“We could have shopped for 20 more families,” she says. “Among the families we helped, only one had two parents at home, and of the other 13 families, two were headed by grandparents.”
Making sure there was a complete holiday dinner for people in the Kinship Care program was this year’s goal for the National Council of Jewish Women Cleveland Section. The Kinship Care program is designed to support a child who lives temporarily or for the long term with a relative.
NCJW gave $50 gift cards to Dave’s Supermarket to 165 families in the Kinship Care program. The $7,500 that was donated came from NCJW’s “Love for Dignity and More” golf outing.
“Aunts, grandparents or cousins who have to raise young children because their biological parents are either incarcerated, in drug rehab, or have been abusive often need financial support,” says Janice Bilchik, NCJW co-president. “Foster care families receive $612 a month per child, as opposed to Kinship Care caregivers, who receive $245 per month. In our own way, we did something this holiday season to make up for this shortfall.”
afine@cjn.org
Other synagogues’
holiday outreach efforts:
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
Wrapped toys to donate to Marion Sterling Elementary School.
The Temple-Tifereth Israel
In November the congregation hosted homeless families who lived in the synagogue for a week via the Interfaith Hospitality Network.
Temple Emanu El
The preschool and religious school gathered toys for children as part of the Holiday Angels Program. Senior Youth group bought the toys and junior youth group wrapped the toys that were all delivered to a drop-off point.
Jumping out of the van were B’nai Jeshurun Chesed Committee co-chair Stacey Hader Epstein and Rabbi Hal Rudin-Luria. They began handing the bags of donated gifts to the older children at the center and to the teachers who had run outside to greet them.
“For two months we had a large bin in the B’nai Jeshurun lobby requesting gently used or new educational board games and toys for the needy children and teachers at the center,” says Hader Epstein. “Some of what we brought will be used in the day care center and after-school classrooms, and other items will be distributed to families for their holiday gifts.”
The Kathryn Tyler Neighborhood Center was selected because its East Cleveland location resonated with many B’nai Jeshurun congregants. “This area used to be the heart and soul of the Jewish community,” says Hader Epstein. “So many of our members can still relate to those memories.”
Providing clothing and holiday toys for 14 of the neediest families at Gearity Elementary School in University Heights was the mission of Phyllis Wachs, social action coordinator of the Park Synagogue Sisterhood.
Armed with a list of ages and clothing sizes of 42 elementary-age children, Wachs and other volunteers went shopping. “We allocated $40 each for clothing and $30 each for toys,” says Wachs. Money for the holiday gift-giving came from Sisterhood funds, Rabbi Joshua Skoff’s discretionary fund, private donations, and a sizeable gift from an anonymous “angel.”
Members of Park Sisterhood who are also part of Beachwood’s “Happy Hookers,” knitted 80 scarves and 50 sets of hats and gloves for the Gearity students on the list.
Wachs, who along with other Park Synagogue members, tutors at Gearity School, says the school population has changed dramatically due to redistricting, and there are now many needy students.
“We could have shopped for 20 more families,” she says. “Among the families we helped, only one had two parents at home, and of the other 13 families, two were headed by grandparents.”
Making sure there was a complete holiday dinner for people in the Kinship Care program was this year’s goal for the National Council of Jewish Women Cleveland Section. The Kinship Care program is designed to support a child who lives temporarily or for the long term with a relative.
NCJW gave $50 gift cards to Dave’s Supermarket to 165 families in the Kinship Care program. The $7,500 that was donated came from NCJW’s “Love for Dignity and More” golf outing.
“Aunts, grandparents or cousins who have to raise young children because their biological parents are either incarcerated, in drug rehab, or have been abusive often need financial support,” says Janice Bilchik, NCJW co-president. “Foster care families receive $612 a month per child, as opposed to Kinship Care caregivers, who receive $245 per month. In our own way, we did something this holiday season to make up for this shortfall.”
afine@cjn.org
Other synagogues’
holiday outreach efforts:
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
Wrapped toys to donate to Marion Sterling Elementary School.
The Temple-Tifereth Israel
In November the congregation hosted homeless families who lived in the synagogue for a week via the Interfaith Hospitality Network.
Temple Emanu El
The preschool and religious school gathered toys for children as part of the Holiday Angels Program. Senior Youth group bought the toys and junior youth group wrapped the toys that were all delivered to a drop-off point.
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