Kindle A Holiday Light Project Great Success

For the third year, the B’nai Israel Kindle a Holiday Light Project was a resounding success!  Congregation B’nai Israel cooked and served Christmas Eve dinner at Operation Hope.  In addition, holiday gifts were bought for about 75 people in our community!  We provided gifts for 7 families, and each family also received supermarket gift cards.  We also provided gifts for 45 needy senior citizens.

We were told that the gifts really made a difference in the lives of those who received them.  Many of the gifts were basic necessities of life, but also some wonderful special treats, too, especially for the children.  The gifts were beautifully wrapped by our congregants, and we were told that just the act of looking at them brought the holiday spirit to so many of those who received them!

The Kindle a Holiday Light Project was not only a success because of the benefit to the recipients.  So many members of our Congregation participated, and the enthusiasm was wonderful.  By brightening the lives of others in our community, we make the community a better place for everybody!

Thanks to everybody who participated!

Laurie Schopick

B’nai Israel/Classical Studies Partnership
Social Action Task Force – Exciting Volunteer Opportunities
 
The volunteer opportunities at our partner school, Classical Studies, continue to grow.  We have some wonderful new programs that have started or are planned for the near future.  Some opportunities for anyone interested in volunteering include a science program; a Great Books program; a dance program; a sports program including soccer and other sports; an arts and crafts program that would include scrapbooking and quilting among many other activities.  We are always looking for new programs, so feel free to contact us if you have a recommendation.

Many of these opportunities have someone who will be leading the activity and need additional volunteers. We are looking for several people to be involved in each of these activities to allow for more flexibility with the volunteers schedules.

Other projects for the year are tutoring/mentoring/book buddy volunteers, and presenting at a PTA meeting at Classical Studies. During school hours, some opportunities include Book Buddies (read to a student or class, commitment can be one to four hours a month), tutoring (math or reading, commitment can be two-four hours a month), or mentoring with one student (commitment one hour a week). 
If you are interested please remember that you will not be working alone, you will be part of a team of volunteers. 

To get involved in these exciting opportunities, 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!

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.