Social Action Task Force Update

Catch the holiday spirit of giving…
Kindle a holiday light for someone in our community

How can you help?

1. Fulfill a wish list for an isolated senior citizen.  We have a list
   of senior citizens who, without our help, will not receive a gift
   for the holidays.  Each senior citizen wish list would cost from $10.00 to $100.00 to fulfill. Some wish lists are just one item such as a twin sheet set, a new housecoat, or a sweater.  If you are interested, contact Donna Tauss and we will find a wish list that fits your budget.
2. Fulfill a wish list for one member of a family in our community. This year there are so many families without the resources to buy necessities or a little something to make the holidays special for their children.  We buy a toy and a clothing item for each child, and a clothing item and household item for
   each adult.
   
   We also include supermarket gift cards to help the family buy food for a special holiday meal. Again, if you are interested, contact Laurie Schopick or Ellen Dinkes. We will find a wish that meets your budget. The items begin at about $10.00 Any denomination supermarket gift card is welcome.
3. B’nai Israel will be providing Christmas Eve dinner at Operation Hope.  You can volunteer to provide cooked food, purchase cooked food,  purchase festive paper goods, or serve the dinner. Contact Laurie Schopick.
4. Do you enjoy wrapping gifts? 
   We need your help. 
   Contact Laurie Schopick, Ellen Dinkes, or Donna Tauss.
   
   
   

B’nai Israel/
Classical Studies Partnership
Social Action Task Force

Exciting Volunteer Opportunities

Social Action Task Force – Volunteering at a local elementary school is an extremely rewarding experience and a wonderful way to get involved in your community! Our partnership with Classical Studies continues to expand. There are plenty of opportunities for our temple members to get involved.

As a new school year begins, so do the volunteer opportunities.  Volunteers have been the key to our success thus far. We are always looking for more volunteers for either the afterschool program or during the school day. 

During the school day, the volunteers would participate in activities such as reading to a class, tutoring, and mentoring. This involves going to the school weekly, every other week, or even just once a month. 

Afterschool volunteer opportunities involve going to the school for 1-1 1/2 hours on a Wednesday or Friday afternoon (3:15 – 4:30 p.m.) for 4-6 weeks, or more if you would like, to help with homework, read to the kids, or lead a small group in an area of interest or hobby (science, arts & crafts, music, sports, etc.).

To get involved in this exciting opportunity, please contact Jill Tarlov (Jtarlov@snet.net or 372-8402) if you are interested in volunteering in the afterschool program, or Deena Spector (DSpec01@aol.com or 268-5335) if you would like to volunteer during the school day.   Enrich your life and that of some children in our community!

Pajamas and Children’s
Books needed!

It’s that time of the year again!  NEW pajamas (all sizes) and NEW children’s books are needed for children waiting to be adopted while living in the foster care system.

The response to last years’ pajamas drive was wonderful and we’re hoping that we can do even better this year.

For the whole month of October, there will a labeled bin in the Religious School lobby.   Just donating one pair of pajamas will mean that one less child will be sleeping in their clothes at night this winter.

If you want to make donations to this great cause after the bins have been collected, please contact Linda Torzsa at 203-331-7044.  She is the Connecticut’s chapter rep for the National Pajama Program.  Here’s the link if you want to find out more about this wonderful organization:  http://www.pajamaprogram.org/.   

No matter what the economic issues are, there are always children being helped by the wonderful state agencies, but they need our help as well.

Thanks in advance for your generous donations.

About  Mikey's Way

On March 29, 2004, just two days after his 15th birthday, Michael Friedman of Easton and a member of the Temple, was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive cancer.  Michael is being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City, by some of the some of the finest pediatric cancer physicians in the world.Michael endured two surgeries, seven rounds of chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, and radiation therapy, which damaged the blood vessels around his liver causing it to fail. 

Fortunately an experimental drug helped his liver regain function and he was able to return home.  Michael was in remission for nine months.  As he says “It was the best time of my life.”  He caught up with his school work, got his driver’s license, hung out with his friends, worked at his favorite camp, and went on several vacations to his favorite places.

Every child treated at Sloan Kettering is entitled to a Make-A-Wish.  Most often the children ask for a trip to Disney or a cruise.  Michael wanted his wish to make a difference for those less fortunate than him.  He decided to spend his Make-A-Wish on a shopping spree to purchase hand-held interactive entertainment for other children in cancer treatment, and thus founded Mikey’s Way.

Mikey’s Way is a non-profit foundation created to better the lives of pediatric cancer patients by alleviating the boredom of treatment through the distribution of interactive games and improving entertainment facilities.  This is how Michael got through the physical and mental challenges of treatment, and he wants to help others in the same way.Michael has since had a relapse and is in treatment again, but he still has the same humor, grace, and desire to help others.

In 2008, Michael finally lsot his battle with Cancer, but his memory lives on with Mikey's way.  For more information or to make a donation, please go to www.mikeysway.org.
 Thank you.

The Center for Women and Families
of Eastern Fairfield County
serves residents of Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull.
The Center provides training, and mandates it for volunteers who will interact with clients. If you're interested in further information, or wish to volunteer, call Sasha, Volunteer Services Coordinator, at 334-6154, x14. Another way to help is considering your own act of tzedakah. Please send your gift to:
CWF, 753 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport, CT 06604.

Domestic Violence Services
CWF's 24-hour emergency hotline number is 203-384-9559; the statewide toll free hotline number is 1-888-774-2900. CWF provides safety planning, emergency shelter, counseling, support groups, court-based advocacy, referral to legal and medical institutions, and advocacy for battered adults and their children.

Sexual Assault Services
CWF's 24-hour emergency hotline number is 203-333-2233; the statewide toll free hotline number is 1-888-999-5545. To reach a Spanish-speaking advocate 24 hours a day, call the VEDAS sexual assault hotline 1-888-568-8332. CWF provides advocacy and accompaniment to hospitals, police and courts, counseling and support groups for adult and child sexual assault victims and incest survivors and their families.

Jewish Family Service of Bridgeport
One hour a week is all it takes to make an enormous difference in the life of a person in need. Jewish Family Service of Bridgeport is actively seeking volunteers for its Mitzvah Corps. There are many opportunities dealing with people of all ages, from the young to the elderly. The most pressing need for volunteers is with the elderly residents of our community. JFS is looking for people to be Friendly Visitors, visiting once a week and helping to make life a little less lonely for our clients.

We also need people to drive clients to medical appointments and to deliver kosher hot lunches to some of our elderly shut-ins. Tutors are needed to help new immigrants learn English; training is provided for this service. Other volunteer opportunities include helping in the agency's office once a week for two hours. For more information or to make an appointment to discuss volunteering, please call Myrna Kosowsky, Volunteer Coordinator, at 203-366-5438.

J.F.S. is a member of the Big Brother/Big Sister Organization and pairs people with children through this organization. Male volunteers are especially needed to meet the demands of a long waiting list of boys in need of a Big Brother. There are also opportunities to join in the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, helping inner city children improve their reading skills. Volunteers are also needed on an ongoing basis to work with new immigrants to help these newcomers practice their English skills. Training is provided for all volunteers in this area.

If you can help or if you know of someone who could benefit from one of these programs, please call Myrna Kosowsky, Volunteer Coordinator, 203-366-5438. Click on the logo at left to reach the JFS website.

Gun Control in Connecticut
Despite a growing social awareness about gun safety and gun violence, the problem of illegal gun proliferation continues to grow. In the past three years, over 140 Connecticut residents were murdered with a firearm. Additionally, a firearm played a role in over 6,000 violent crimes. Most of these offenses were committed by individuals who cannot legally own a gun or possess a firearm.

Recently, Connecticut Against Gun Violence (CAGV) attempted to enact a bill entitled "An Act Requiring the Reporting of Stolen Firearms" (HB5067). This bill requires the owner of a firearm to promptly (within seventy-two hours) report the theft to their local police department and to require anyone who sells a firearm at retail to have a permit issued by the local police authority.

This bill will close a loophole that is often exploited by firearms traffickers. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, 88% of all the guns found at a crime scene were used by someone other than its legal owner. This shows that legally-purchased guns are being diverted to the illegal market.

In a survey conducted by the Center for Research and Public Policy, an overwhelming 98% of Connecticut residents supported the requirement that stolen firearms be reported to the authorities. More specifically, 96% of those that own a handgun or long gun also support this proposed requirement.

Despite this broad support, this bill was allowed to die in the most recent session of the Connecticut House of Representatives. In the next legislative session, CAGV will attempt to push this bill into law.

To help with this process, contact your local representative and Rep. Michael Lawlor (D-East Haven) who is the chair of the Judiciary Committee. Click here to can learn who your local representative is and how to contact him/her. Rep. Lawlor can be reached at (860) 240-0530.

For more information on this issue, visit the CAGV web site.

COOKING FOR THE HUNGRY
It is not unusual for mouths to water at B'nai Israel on a certain Tuesday or Thursday during the second week of each month due to the delectable aromas emanating from our kitchen. That's because a team of volunteers from B'nai Israel are busy preparing meals for Operation Hope of Fairfield and the community suppers at St. John's Episcopal Church of Bridgeport.

Laurie Schopick is in charge of this program, and she mobilizes a volunteer corps of 20 to buy, cook, deliver, and, for St. John's, serve the meals. B'nai Israel has committed to provide meals to St. John's on the second Tuesday of each month, and to Operation Hope on the second Thursday. All meals are funded by the Congregation's Rabbi Arnold I. Sher Social Action Fund.

The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) has been the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in the nation's capital for over 40 years. It has educated and mobilized the American Jewish community on legislative and social concerns as an advocate in the Congress of the United States on issues ranging from Israel and Soviet Jewry to economic justice and civil rights, to international peace and religious liberty.

The RAC is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, representing 1.5 million Reform Jews and 1,800 Reform rabbis in 900 congregations throughout North America.

The RAC has embraced the Internet as a way to inform the public about social action issues and the Jewish response, and offer several effective web-based programs available to all, including:
Chai IMPACT is the Religious Action Center's grassroots "action Alert" publication. Chai IMPACT alerts you to pending legislative issues and policy initiatives.

The Advocacy Network is designed to provide an immediate and coordinated grassroots response just at the point when vital legislation reaches a crucial stage in the legislative process. You can choose the issue(s) for which you want to be contacted.
For more information, visit the RAC web site and click on the 'Take Action' link at the left.

The Connecticut Coalition for Organ and Tissue Donation
The Connecticut Coalition for Organ and Tissue Donation (CCOTD) is dedicated to public education and public awareness for all Connecticut residents about the lifesaving benefits of organ and tissue donation.
For more information about organ donation, and these organizations, visit the CCOTD web site at www.ctorganandtissuedonation.org, and the Coalition on Donation web site at www.shareyourlife.org.