Current Initiatives

Thank you to more than 100 volunteers and our entire Religious School for filling Mitzvah Day with energy and purpose. Through hands-on acts of kindness, we brought Torah to life!

Look how we made a difference in the lives of others and cared for our planet:

• 51 pints of blood–more than 153 lives impacted! (NY Blood Center)
• 828 children’s books for under-resourced communities across Long Island and New York City (Book Fairies)
• 522 toys donated by the community and prepped by ToFHY, plus 41 robot cards, for children living in a family homeless shelter in Corona (Second Chance Toys/Corona Family Residence)
• 164 pairs of eyeglasses to give the gift of sight to those who are unable to afford them (ReSpectacles)
• Approximately 15 bags of clothes, 50 feminine hygiene kits, 25 recreation kits, more than 100 yoga and mindfulness flashcards, and 79 “Welcome” cards for newly arrived immigrant schoolchildren and families (PS112Q in Astoria)
• 325 bagged lunches for the Corona Seventh Day Adventist Church soup kitchen (150 by religious school students, 75 by ToFHY, and 100 by the 6th graders and senior Temple members in the “Better Together” program)
• Leftovers from our community lunch delivered to Corona Seventh Day Adventist and the Corona Family Residence to feed even more people this week
• 44 stuffed hearts, 14 bears, and 6 seat belt cushions for hospitalized children, plus crocheting and knitting for warmth and comfort
• 55 gift bags for seniors at Forest View and Atria
• 35 care packages for financially insecure, community college students
• 87 handwritten cards for our troops
• $223 raised for The Seeing Eye dog training school
• $218 raised for LiveOnNY organ donation

Plus, the day featured:

• An engaging talk about the mitzvah of organ donation (LiveOnNY)
• A terrific classroom presentation by our member Karen Eisenstadt and her dog Julep (The Seeing Eye)
• Entertaining off-site visits to seniors by the Junior Choir and member Karen Davidowitz’s Violin Youth Concert
• Bagels & coffee and a delicious, homemade community lunch
• Rabbi and Cantor’s closing session filled with song, reflection, and inspiration to do more mitzvot

We could not have done it without the extraordinary participation and generosity of our Temple community!

Did you miss Mitzvah Day? You can still support MD25 and our future initiatives by donating. Contributions, large or small, are greatly appreciated.

Did you participate and feel inspired to do more? Join the Social Action Team and help “Bring Torah to Life” year-round! Please contact Jerry Strauss at .