Tikkun Olam Bulletin Board

Live-in-Peace

Donation Opportunity to raise money for the First of the Month Fund for families who face eviction due to loss of jobs 

Submitted by Ivan Temes

4/20/2021

Donation Opportunity to help families with RENT

WeHOPE 

Laundry Pod Donations 

Submitted by Dina Bartello

12/1/2020

Give our homeless brothers and sisters a fresh start with the gift of clean clothes.

Access to laundry services is a simple way to give our unhouse neighbors self-confidence and a sense of dignity. By donating laundry pods to WeHOPE's laundry/shower program you are not only providing a neighbor in need clean clothes, you are helping the in securing employment and housing. YOU are providing dignity.

There are two ways to donate:

1. Drop off the laundry pod donation at Etz Chayim during the month of December
2. Give on your own - Order through Amazon and have your donation delivered directly to WeHOPE. If you are an Amazon Prime member, delivery is free! WeHOPE, 1854 Bay Road, East Palo Alto, CA 94303.

WeHOPE provides over 13,000 loads of laundry a year to neighbors in need. That is 13.000 opportunities for a fresh start, and you have an opportunity to create those fresh starts!

For more information contact Dina Bartello at dbartello@wehope.org.

Etz Chayim Holiday Dinner Drive for Second Harvest 

Donation Opportunity - Second Harvest

Submitted by Mark Lee

Posted 11/11/2020

Congregation Etz Chayim Holiday Dinner Drive:

This year has been difficult for all of us with Covid-19.  But many here in the Bay Area have been even MORE challenged to make ends meet, keep food on the table, and provide ongoing nourishment for their kids and themselves. To help those less fortunate, once again Etz Chayim will be participating in the Bay Area Holiday Dinner Drive this November, working with other area congregations in donating toward a "virtual food drive" for Second Harvest Food Bank. 

From now until December 4th, your donation of $18 provides enough for 36 meals (or $180 for 360 meals!) to those who face food insecurity, and we are hoping to continue as a leading congregation for this important Dinner Drive.

Donating is easy, and you can either make a tax deductible contribution directly to Second Harvest FoodBank on their website at  https://impact.shfb.org/give/t327982/#!/donation/checkout and complete the form. Or, you can send a check to the Etz Chayim office made out to Second Harvest, write Etz Chayim Dinner Drive on the memo line, write attn: Holiday Dinner Drive on the envelope.

Sponsored by Etz Chayim Arevuit Committee.

WeHOPE

Donation Opportunities 

Volunteer Opportunities
 
Submitted by Dina Bartello

Posted 9/14/2020

Several of you have asked about volunteer opportunities at the organization I work at, WeHOPE. Here are a few ideas. We are also open to customizing an opportunity so don't hesitate to reach out to me with ideas or questions. We are working with Mark Lee, leader of the Food for the Hungry Impact Team to plan activities for the coming year.  

• Preparing or serving dinner - this is a great group activity that can either be done onsite in our kitchen or can be done off-site. If done off-site you can gather your group and assign items to cook and each person can prepare their item in their kitchen. We have groups that do this via Zoom so that everyone is preparing the meal "together' but are physically distancing. They then drop the food off at the shelter and the WeHOPE staff serves it.
• Planning a sock drive- socks are the most requested item in the homeless community.
• Collect and assemble hygiene kits. This can be made into a Zoom activity as well. If you are interested in this opportunity let me know and I will get the common items that go into the kits.
• Washing the outside of the hygiene vehicles and trucks. We can always use help to clean the vehicles on Sundays. If anyone is interested in being outside and doing physical activity.
• Prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for encampment residents. Again, this can be done onsite as a group or as a Zoom activity. WeHOPE staff take the sandwiches out to encampment residents.
• We have a special Thanksgiving meal/party that we have every year the Thursday before the holiday. We have live music, a traditional meal and activities. If musicians and signers are interested let me know. We can have the event outside this year and plan for the musicians to be physically distanced.

The are also opportunities to donate money:

• $20 Provides 10 individual bottles of hand sanitizer to homeless individuals
• $30 Provides 24 hygiene kits to homeless individuals living in encampments
• $50 Provides 10 nutritious meals to kids experiencing food insecurity
• $75 Provides 53 - 1 gallon bottles of fresh water to individuals living in encampments
• $100 Provides enough detergent to do 405 loads of laundry for those living without a home
• $200 Provides a hand-washing station for 1 month to a homeless encampment
• $850 Provides a 4-hour shower/laundry service session to individuals living without a home

If you are interested in organizing a group activity,  contact Dina directly or send a message to areivut@etzchayim.org and we will get back to you.

 .

Election Team for Bend the Arc Jewish Actions

Volunteer Opportunities to write letters, postcards, phone calls. You can sign up on our website.

Submitted by Lisa Rogers

Posted 8/21/2020

Bend the Arc Jewish Action is a movement of tens of thousands of progressive Jews all across the country. We stand up for immigrants and other marginalized communities, oppose white supremacy, and fight for criminal justice reform and economic equity. Our local chapter covers the Peninsula and South Bay.

Most importantly, right now  we are working to get out the vote, especially in places with a record of voter suppression and swing states. Here are some of the activities we're currently offering. We will be adding more before the election. You can sign up on our website or talk to me anytime to find out more. In all cases, no prior experience is necessary and you can do as much or as little as you like.

1. Write letters to encourage under-represented or unlikely voters in swing states to vote. We have a "virtual letter-writing party" on Zoom every other Wednesday at 7:30 -- with nice people and interesting discussion -- or you can do it on your own time.

2. Write postcards or make phone calls for Reclaim Our Vote, which helps voters of color in voter-suppression states get registered, get ballots, and get to the polls. ROV is affiliated with the NAACP and Mi Familia Vota. Again, we do postcarding or phone banking parties together on Zoom, or you can do it on your own. Possibly adding text-banking soon.

We also welcome suggestions for other get-out-the-vote activities. Send your ideas to Lisa Rogers.

Knitting Scarves for Women Heart

Volunteer Opportunity for WomenHeart

Submitted by Sarah Schachter

Posted 8/20/2020

Knitting Scarves for WomenHeart

The scarf I received means a lot to me.  As a WomenHeart champion, I get to give them to new women who join our group.

Since I am in the area, if you can get the scarves to me I will send them to the address that is provided. Please know how important this scarf will be to a woman who is newly diagnosed with heart disease. Your scarf will be sterilized and sealed. WomenHeart in D.C. will send it out to WomenHeart chapters in the US and Canada. It could even be sent to our chapter. I just ordered 20 scarves for our chapter.

If you want more information about WomenHeart their email is WomenHeart.org. If you are a woman with diagnosed heart disease, and want to know about the El Camino chapter, please contact me and I can give you more information.

ResistanceLabs.com

Volunter Opportunity
"Sign Up To Text" or Donation Opportunity

Submitted by Tatiana Granoff

Posted 8/18/2020

Resistance Labs - Sign up to Text

I am working with ResistanceLabs.com,They provide tech support and texters for all kinds of progressive groups, I have worked on both political issues (voter registration, absentee ballots, GOTV) across the country and have done a lot of texting to encourage participation in the Census by traditionally undercounted communities. 

This has been very rewarding as people respond to texts and often with surprising warmth. ( I am on an app, not using my cell or my number)

I have had truly heartwarming exchanges...and heartrending ones as well in this COVID time. Sometimes it seems I have reached someone who is really isolated and it just feels like a mitzvah.

Palo Alto Silent Protest against systemic and individual racism

First Sunday of the month from noon to 1 pm

In  conjunction with Spark Church

Updated 4/8/2021

On the first Sunday of the month, from noon to 1 pm, we will again stand silently with posters to send the message to our community that we must work together against racial injustice. It is both a protest against systemic and individual racism and a way of standing in solemn solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters, who have been subjected to injustice and violence for far too long.

We will focus our attention on the intersection of California Ave. & El Camino Real in Palo Alto, but as more people choose to take part, we will again spread out among various intersections along El Camino Real in Palo Alto, both to maintain social distancing and to extend the messaging to people as they drive along El Camino

For more information, you can refer to the info sheet: Palo Alto Silent Protest - Spring 2021  For now, signups aren't needed.   

Contact: Mark Arevalo  

Food is my personal Tikkun Olam Project

Ladle and Leaf: Community Food Support with Ladle and Leaf

Donation opportunity:
San Mateo Strong

Submitted by Lisa Alexander 

Posted 6/28/2020

These are a few ways I am involved in local efforts:

Community food support:  I buy a box of produce and other items from " Ladle and Leaf's Farm Fresh to You" which has reduced our family's trips to grocery stores. I always add a small donation that helps them to feed the community. I think there are many other services that also give back to our communities.

Several churches and at least one synagogue (Beth Jacob in Redwood City) are providing information about how to buy food for our families, support a local business, and help individuals as well as St. Anthony's food programs.  Ladle and Leaf (San Francisco Soup Compan;y) have had to close all but one of their retail eateries and they are keeping as many employees as possible working from a central kitchen. You can buy TP, masks, gloves, large bags of flour and packages of yeast, as well as soup, salads and sandwiches. Everything we've tried has been tasty and healthy - well, I have not tried their cookies! They can take orders as late as the night before.

You can also donate to San Mateo Strong: You can choose to help individuals/families, small businesses, non-profits or wherever the need is greatest.