On September 9th, The Jewish Federation held its fourth Community Service Day of 2012, with over 120 dedicated volunteers participating in projects across Los Angeles that helped children, teens and seniors, as well as people struggling with food insecurity. Our volunteers rocked (literally) the day!
At Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (HCHC), we built a mock school supply store for children living on the HCHC property. Volunteers used the supplies to pack new backpacks, so that the children would be prepared for school. At the Aviva Center, we participated in arts and crafts and other activities with the resident teenage girls.
Over at the Westside Jewish Community Center, YALA (the Federation’s young adult group) hosted its annual Senior Prom. They hora-ed. They kibbitzed. They noshed. They had a ball. And, it was hard to tell who was having more fun: the 75 seniors or the members of YALA. According to one of the women, “Susan (Nanus, Director of Senior Programs at the Westside JCC) said that there would be young men here asking us to dance,” and dance they did – to the hits of the 1930s, 40s and 50s as interpreted by The Harold Kaye Band and Harve Mann, all seniors themselves. Young and young-at-heart alike were asking each other to dance, rocking to the music, and enjoying the opportunity to spend the afternoon in such a fun and meaningful way. After the event, all of the food and center pieces were donated to Global Kindness and Tomchei Shabbos for families in need.
Finally, we picked over 1,500 pounds of oranges with Food Forward at CSUN’s orange grove, knowing that all of those oranges would be donated to local food pantries, including Jewish Family Service’s SOVA Community Food and Resource program. Following the project, volunteers enjoyed lunch at the Hillel House on campus, a project site of our Federation’s inaugural Community Service Day in February 2011.
Thanks to all our volunteers who made this day so special. You can see pictures of the projects below:
We hope to see you at our next Community Service Day on October 21st! To be placed on our volunteer e-mail list, please fill out our short volunteer sign-up form. And don’t forget to check us out on Facebook!
