Stories @ CSI

On Sunday, September 10, alongside the annual JF&CS Mitzvah Day, Shearith Israel rallied together for a community-wide day of service. Members young and old participated in projects to bring holiday cheer to seniors, support food insecure families and intown community members experiencing homelessness and comfort to pets in animal shelters. 

Machaneh Shai students in pre-K, K, 1st and 2nd grade made 45 cheerful cards and packed 30 comfort bags for Intown Cares, a local nonprofit with a mission to prevent and reverse homelessness and hunger in Intown Atlanta. (Fun fact - Shearith Israel was one of the faith-based organizations that helped launch Intown Cares in 2010!) 

Thanks to a Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta Innovation Grant, students in 3rd, 4th & 5th grade worked with Bagel Rescue, a non-profit organization supporting hunger relief in the metro Atlanta area by connecting restaurants with excess food - specifically bagels - to neighbors in need. More than 300 bagel sandwiches were distributed to food insecure people living intown (via one of Bagel Rescue's street outreach partners). 

Finally, Machaneh Shai 6th and 7th graders partnered with Sisterhood volunteers and the Shearith Israel Green Team to give new life to trash - foam mattresses (popular at sleepaway camps!) destined for the landfill. With expert leadership from a local nonprofit, Scraplanta, Shearith Israel Sisterhood and Green Team volunteers helped out to make 23 pet beds for Paws Atlanta, a local animal shelter.  

Outside of Machaneh Shai, three other community-wide projects offered opportunities for service. 

Volunteers packed more than 100 bags of shelf-stable food for local food insecure elementary students as part of our Backpack Buddies program! 

In Shearith Israel’s kitchen, young professional volunteers (21 - 40 year olds) baked honey cake and assembled Rosh Hashanah gift bags for JF&CS' One Good Deed program, which matches older adults with volunteers for friendships, connections, and companionship. 

And finally, the Shearith Israel community gathered together with other intown synagogues and Adamah ATL to clean up Peachtree Creek Greenway in a Reverse Tashlich action. Volunteers hauled more than 3,000 pounds of trash from the green space.