social action

Our goal is to engage members of the Beth El community in activities of tikkun olam - making the world whole for the good of humanity.

Emphasizing the "action" in social action, the committee will create or participate in deeds and projects to effect positive, measurable change.

• Homeless Meal
• Katrina Relief
• Alameda food Bank
• YEAH
• Turkey Drive
• Rosa Parks School
• Sukkot in April
• Mitzvah Day

HOMELESS MEAL

Congregation Beth El has been serving a wonderful, multi-course chicken dinner to 125 - 200 people on the third Sunday of each month for 18 years. We are part of a network of places of worship which ensure that at least one hot meal is available every weekend on Berkeley's northside.

New and experienced volunteers are needed. The more people who learn the tasks of preparing, serving and cleaning up, the more volunteers we have to draw from. Sign up on the Beth El web site, www.bethelberkeley.org, and click on the link to the Homeless Meal sign-up page. Sign-ups are by time and task.

All helpers are welcome, Beth El members or not. Teens can earn volunteer hours for school. Volunteering also makes a great family activity. As long as young children (generally 6 or older) are supervised by their parents, there are tasks that they can do to be part of this important community service.

Contributions of clothing, blankets, and toiletries, which congregants leave in the red barrel, are provided to our guests.

Please contact Ruth Spear at Rspearatty@gmail.com

KATRINA RELIEF

We have joined our partner, Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Berkeley, in assisting the New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Biloxi, Mississippi, which was damaged severely by Hurricane Katrina. On March 19, 2006, we visited New Bethel and presented them with a $3,000 Home Depot Community Impact Grant and $1,345 we had collected from local businesses to assist with hurricane recovery.

The Social Action committee hopes to assist this year with other reconstruction activities in Biloxi, including the possibility of some of us making a trip there to help with reconstruction.

Please contact maximds@aol.com

ALAMEDA FOOD BANK

Every Wednesday, we collect eggs for the Alameda County Food Bank at a local Safeway store (where there is a 2:1 sale on eggs). We deliver the eggs to our partner, Liberty Hill Baptist Church, which bags food for the food bank every week. We need a total of 3 volunteers each Wednesday to collect the eggs and deliver them to Liberty Hill.

Please contact Linda Gerson, lgersonre@aol.com.

We also have ongoing food collection for the Bank, and have won awards for most food collected.

Please contact Howard Pollick at pollick@irtq.ucsf.edu

YEAH

Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel serves adolescent homeless people. Beth El volunteers help with cooking, mentoring, and other tasks. This is a wonderful opportunity to be involved in a great local program.

We have the option of working on a weekly basis to help with meals and assistance at the shelter; of choosing individuals to entering into a mentoring relationship, and/or of using our own particular professional expertise to provide individuals with services they do not otherwise have access to. We hope to enter into a venture comparable to San Francisco's Project Homeless Connect.

Please contact Sam or Vivian Trotz, trotzi@aol.com.

TURKEY DRIVE

Each year around Thanksgiving, Beth El participates in the Alameda Food Bank Turkey Drive. We as a congregation raise about $4,000 towards support of this worthwhile institution. Please let us know if you would like to work on the coordination of our mailing.

Please contact Karin Bliman at bliiman@calmail.berkeley.ed

ROSA PARKS SCHOOL

Beth El has adopted Rosa Parks Environmental Science Magnet School in West Berkeley. Rosa Parks has a diverse student body with a high percentage of low income students.

Beth El volunteers make a difference by tutoring students in reading and helping in science and other classes. Our goal is to provide at least 10 volunteers each semester, for one hour a week. The experience is rewarding for volunteers and students alike.

Please contact hristina_spaulding@msn.com

SUKKOT IN APRIL

The last Sunday in April, Beth El volunteers take on simple construction, painting, and clean-up projects for an organization in need.

Volunteers are contacted and organized in March. There is a wonderful feeling of community on the day of the event.

Please contact Jim Emery at inreaching@aol.com

MITZVAH DAY

This fall we hope to gather enough volunteers to re-institute this annual project of going to various Bay Area locations such as nursing homes and homeless shelters to spend an afternoon doing various projects with its residents.

Please contact maximds@aol.com