Thanksgiving is the holiday to give thanks for all of our blessings and good fortune. But in many households this year, Thanksgiving was going to be very different than in years past.
Last year, JFCS volunteers and donors adopted 32 households for Thanksgiving; this year, that number exploded to 61 households. “Many more of our clients are in need this year,” stated Judy Freundlich Tiell, executive director. “With the generous donations from congregations and individuals and able assistance from lots of volunteers, we pulled together to feed extra families.”
Each family received a turkey or turkey breast and the fixins’ to make pumpkin pie, corn pudding, green bean casserole, corn muffins and a sweet potato casserole, plus extras from the JFCS Food Pantry. A special thank you to goes to Ruth Silon, Carole Goldberg and Linda Goodman, the JFCS regular Food Pantry volunteers, for all of their hard work making this Thanksgiving possible for so many others.
This year, with economic times as tenuous as they are, the JFCS Hanukah Helper project, in partnership with Temple Shalom, provided Hanukah to 41 children this year. “This year, more than ever, we sincerely thank all those generous people who graciously ‘adopted’ a Jewish child this Hanukah season,” said Judy Freundlich Tiell. This project would not have been possible without the tireless efforts from the volunteers from Temple Shalom. A huge thank you goes to Sheilah Abramson Miles and Jill Simon for co-chairing this project, in its 21st year.
The adults and children who attended the Family Mitzvah event held Sunday, November 21, helped to unload the truck filled with Hanukah gifts and organize the gifts for pick-up. They also had fun creating Hanukah crafts.
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