South Florida Jewish Organizations Provide Passover Meals To Homebound

SOUTH FLORIDA JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING PASSOVER MEALS TO HOME BOUND SENIORS

Sun Sentinel, March 7

“South Florida Jewish organizations are making efforts to ensure local homebound seniors have a nice Passover meal for the holiday, which begins on the evening of March 30.

One of these organizations is the West Palm Beach-based MorseLife Health System, which will present its Homebound Mitzvah Program in which more than 400 volunteers of all ages and from all walks of life are expected to prepare packages to deliver to Jewish homebound seniors throughout Palm Beach County before Passover. The volunteers will plate and freeze the Passover meals that are part of these packages during the week of March 19, and they will then load and deliver these packages on March 28 from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 pm at both the MorseLife Health System campus, 4847 Fred Gladstone Dr. in West Palm Beach, and at Temple Torat Emet, 8600 Jog Road in Boynton Beach. The volunteers will also spend quality time with the seniors.

Linda Sevich, MorseLife's director of community-based services who heads the Homebound Mitzvah Program, said the organization is "very fortunate" for the volunteers' support.

"There's a lot of outreach from people in the community who want to be involved because they see this program as very rewarding."

Contact Sevich at 561-687-5791 by March 20 for more information on the program or to volunteer. Call 561-282-5388 by March 14 to be a program recipient. Community service hours are available for students who volunteer for this program.

Community services hours will also be available to students who participate in the annual Matzah Mitzvah Passover food distribution, presented by Jewish Community Services of South Florida and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, on March 25. For this event, volunteers of different ages will assemble Passover food baskets at Temple Israel of Greater Miami, 137 N.E. 19th St.in Miami, starting at 9 a.m. and will then deliver them to homebound seniors and Holocaust survivors throughout Miami-Dade County from 10-11:15 a.m.

Alec Rosen, vice president for JCS' Community Engagement Division, said, "This event is an opportunity for people to connect with their community and to connect with homebound seniors and Holocaust survivors."

"It's an opportunity for people to realize how fortunate they are in their own lives that they are not suffering from food insecurity while at least 25 percent of the population in Miami-Dade County is suffering from some level of food insecurity."

Marian Mendelsohn, director for JCS' Community Engagement Division, said, "This event is an opportunity for people to bring the spirit of the holiday of Passover because our volunteers distribute the food and spend quality time with the seniors."

Elise Lipoff Mayer of Miami Beach, who, along with her husband Jonathan Mayer and their teenage daughters Hannah and Shira, delivers Passover meals to homebound seniors for this event, said, "We try to request to see the same people every time we deliver because that builds a sustained sense of relationship with the seniors and the kids remember them so they get excited about going to see them and seeing how they're doing."

Jonathan Mayer echoed his wife's sentiments and said, "Interacting with elderly Jews educates our children about the process of becoming older and the benefit of community intervention and community involvement."

Visit jcsfl.org/events/matzahmitzvah/ for more information and to register as a volunteer. It is recommended to register as soon as possible. Contact Mendelsohn at 305-403-6539 or [email protected] for group registration.

Goodman Jewish Family Services of Broward County's kosher food pantry, The Cupboard, is providing Passover food to more than 200 families in Broward throughout this month. These recipients include homebound seniors as well as domestic abuse clients and Holocaust survivors.

Stephanie Silverman Houser, director for The Cupboard, which officially opened in September 2017, said, "We're very excited to help our clients celebrate Passover by providing them with some traditional Passover food as well as Publix gift cards."

Houser noted that the pantry is very grateful to Young Israel of Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale for providing food donations as well as gift cards. The pantry is still looking for food donations and volunteers. Visit jfsbroward.org/volunteer/ or call 954-530-7555 to register as a volunteer, make an appointment for food donations or for more information. Visit jewishbroward.org for information on an event in which the PJ Library of the Jewish Federation of Broward County goes to the Cupboard on March 18 from 3-5 p.m. At this event, food donations will be accepted, Passover bags will be decorated for the seniors and needy families and food will be sorted and stacked in the shelves.

Over at the Boca Raton -based Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services, volunteers, including residents from Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach , recently helped to sort Passover food they donated to Rales JFS' Jacobson Family Food Pantry.

Shari Cohen, Rales JFS' vice president of financial services and food programs, noted that volunteers will deliver these Passover food packages to more than 500 households in need throughout Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach. Cohen said the agency reached out to the community, people responded and they are already maxed out with volunteers. She said the volunteers are exceptional.

"They enjoy visiting with the seniors as much as the seniors enjoy having them in their home for a short visit. It's never a struggle for us to count on our community."”