Olam Tikvah Social Action

Food Drive 2008

OT collected over 590 pounds of food for Food For Others, a local food bank.

Putting cans in the food drive collection box

Images of Sukkot in April 2007

Over 75 participants from Congregation Olam Tikvah, Congregation Kol Ami, and Fort Belvoir's Jewish community joined together to repair a home belonging to an elderly resident in April 2007. Y'shar koach to all who helped and participated. Special thanks to Gideon Frishman, our technical expert, and Eric Rothberg, our volunteer coordinator.

Members' phone numbers are listed in the synagogue directory. You also can contact members through the main office. For more information about Social Action programs and projects, please contact Clare Bachner.

Sukkot in April. Sunday, May 4. Yes, it comes late this year! (That's due to when Pesach falls.) Olam Tikvah will participate once again in our annual “tikkun olam” home-repair project, along with more than 25 other metropolitan Washington-area synagogues. The program improves the living conditions of elderly, disabled, and low-income homeowners by helping them maintain their homes. Its sponsors include Yachad, the Jewish Housing and Community Development Corporation. Both skilled and unskilled volunteers are needed, and teenagers over the age of 13 are welcome with adult supervision. House captain Allen Lebowitz will oversee the project, and Eric Rothberg will serve again as OT’s volunteer coordinator. Please contact Eric at ericandrachel@verizon.net to volunteer, give your preferred shifts, and note any special home repair skills.

OT Blood Drive, Sunday, May 11, 8:00am-1:00pm. Help patients awaiting blood in 15 local Washington-area hospitals and reduce INOVA's deficit in every blood type. The donation process takes about 1 1/2 hours, and each congregant donation is credited to our synagogue account. All donors will be entered into a raffle for $25 a gift certificate, compliments of Merrifield Garden Center. Set up your appointment early to help ensure our success. E-mail blooddrive@olamtikvah.org with your name and preferred appointment time. Please call AnnEllen Feltcorn with concerns about your personal eligibility.

Books for Israel. We collect English books for elementary school and teenage students in Israel. A collection box is in the synagogue lobby. Volunteers are needed to help sort, label and send the books to the school libraries we support in Israel. Read a wonderful letter from a recipient of our books. Contact Bev Sleph to help.

Cell Phone Collection. We collect used cell phones in the synagogue lobby to donate to the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JACADA), which uses them to help victims of domestic abuse. Contact Clare Bachner.

Nursing Home Visits. Committee members conduct monthly Shabbat services at an Alzheimers unit at Arden Courts and at The Virginian. Contact Michelle Endick or Elana Plotnick. We also conduct Pesach seders and lead other holiday celebrations at The Virginian and Arden Courts.

Reading Mentors. Volunteers from OT meet weekly with students from 1st to 3rd grade at Annandale Terrace Elementary School, encouraging the children to read to us in order to improve their reading skills.

Our 2006-2007 Reading Mentors were honored at the Annandale Terrace Elementary School Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on Friday, May 4. Our Olam Tikvah Reading Mentors include: Susan Kristol, John Baer, Carol Ann Cohen, Jane Myers and Clare Vogel Bachner. Each reading mentor meets weekly for an hour with students that teachers have identified as being able to benefit from this extra attention. The school is deeply appreciative of our efforts, and each tutor expressed enormous satisfaction in improving the children’s reading skills.

Tuna Casseroles for So Others May Eat. Every month, synagogue members prepare and deliver tuna casseroles to So Others Might Eat (SOME). SOME is an interfaith, community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of our nation's capital. Deliver casseroles (preferably frozen) to the synagogue on the Wednesday before the third Thursday of the month, between 4:00pm and 8:30pm (see the dates below).

If you have not donated a casserole in the past, please consider joining the ranks of our regulars and know that you are participating in a monthly mitzvah! Even the students at our Religious School make casseroles as their mitzvah project. Children can help their parents make them at home and know that they have done a worthwhile thing.

Simply prepare the casserole according to the recipe below, freeze it, and drop it off at OT according to the schedule below and John Baer will take care of delivering all of the casseroles to SOME.

1 lb noodles, cooked
3 cans tuna fish
3 cans mushroom soup
1 package of frozen vegetables
Butter
Bread crumbs

1. Mix first four ingredients together in a large foil lasagna pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
3. Cool, cover with foil and freeze.

Collection dates for casseroles: Between 4:00 and 8:30pm on December 19, 2007; January 16, February 20, March 19, April 16, May 14, and June 18, 2008.