Avenues to Hope
Avenues to Hope - Providing Essentials to Our Neighbors
BJBE's primary social action initiative recognizes and seeks to meet the basic needs of people in our North Shore community and beyond by operating under our three pillars: collection, action, and donation. We offer a range of opportunities for congregants to make meaningful contributions in pursuit of tikkun olam by starting with our own neighbors.
Collection (Monthly): Moraine Township Food Pantry & Northfield Food Pantry
We work with local food pantries to "fill in the gaps" by providing household and personal items—laundry, toilet paper, etc.— not available through SNAP and other government programs. Congregation BJBE is the pantries' primary source of these items as we work together to reduce the insecurity our North Shore neighbors face. Each month's collection is listed in This Week and on signage in the Village Center, and donations can be dropped off in the designated console in the Tzedakah Nook.
Contacts: Laurie Egert Weissler & Tracey Horwich
Collection: PADS Homeless Shelter
From 2013 to 2023, Ruth Miller led BJBE in supporting the PADS (Providing Advocacy, Dignity, and Shelter) Lake County shelter at First Presbyterian Church in Deerfield. Houses of worship in the area came together to run this that shelter offered meals and a place to sleep one night a week to those experiencing housing insecurity. BJBE congregants would volutneer the fourth Sunday each month.
Beginning in the fall of 2023, PADS Lake County began housing individuals in hotels in Waukegan and Mundelein. As part of a monthly effort, BJBE leads grocery collection drives to add to the PADS food pantry that helps support these individuals.
Contacts: Joel Newton, Naomi Weitzel, & Tracey Horwich
Action: Project Nourish
Fourth Sunday of each month | 8:45 - 10:15 AM
Once a month, volunteers gather in BJBE's kitchen to pack and deliver lunches to help feed those experiencing food insecurity. The lunches are distributed to neighborhood residents near Another Chance Assembly Church on the West Side of Chicago, at a senior center, and at two shelters for victims of domestic violence in Waukegan.
Contacts: Sonya Morgan, Rachel Tzinberg, & Merrilee Waldron
Action: Baking Cookies for Project Nourish
This is a wonderful Tikkun Olam opportunity for all ages! Bake a batch of homemade cookies (no nuts or nut products, please) and bag by twos in Ziploc bags to be added to Project Nourish lunches which are delivered to people who are in need of food. Please label your outer bag "Project Nourish," with the date and quantity on the bag. You can drop your cookies off in the office or put them in the far right freezer in the kitchen. We will include the cookies the next time we prepare lunches.
Contact: Sonya Morgan
Action: Community Tikkun Olam
As part of BJBE’s commitment to the community, we have regularly planned offsite activities for all ages. Join fellow congregants in helping out at organizations such as the Ark, Bernie’s Book Bank, Gratitude Generation, and Feed My Starving Children, where we join together to make a difference outside of the synagogue.
Contact: Melanie Berkowitz
Donation: Tzedakah
Our JLC students are a critical part of Avenues to Hope. Each month, our sixth grade classes suggest and research several charitable organizations before voting on one to be that month’s tzedakah recipient. The entire JLC helps us collect, sort, and deliver items for the Moraine Township Food Pantry.
Contact: Tracey Horwich, Melanie Berkowitz
Learn more about Project Nourish and its history here.
Select a date to volunteer here.