Social Action

Food Drive

Hypothermia Project

Sukkot in April

Seder at the Virginian

Blood Drive

OT's Social Action program is committed to "tikun olam" (repairing the world) and projects are done throughout the year to benefit our community. The Social Action projects can be divided into three categories: ongoing (Reading Mentors, Shabbat services and holidays at The Virginian, donation of cell phones), several times a year (blood drives, food drives), and special projects (Christmas Outreach, Hyperthermia Project, Books For Israel, Help Our People Everywhere for Passover, Valentine’s Day Party in a family shelter). For more information, call or e-mail Clare Bachner at (703) 978-5722 or clarebach@aol.com.

Ongoing Programs

Reading Mentors: Olam Tikvah congregants volunteer to spend an hour weekly throughout the school year with children needing to improve their reading skills. This takes place at Annandale Terrace Elementary School. In addition, we have developed a program at this school to work with the parents of these students to improve the adults' English language skills.

The Virginian: We provide monthly Shabbat and holiday services to the Jewish residents at The Virginian.

Donation of Cell Phones: Throughout the year, there is a collection box for old cell phones. These are given to Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse.

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 recipe and dates below).

Several Times a Year

Blood Drives: We have two blood drives each year coordinated with the INOVA hospital system. Our next blood drive is:

Sunday, October 10, 8:00am-1:00pm. Please take part in this wonderful mitzvah at our own synagogue and help support the constant need for blood donations.

Requirements: Weigh 110 lbs, be in good health, be 17 years of age (16 with parental consent form completed), be at least 56 days since your last whole blood donation.

To schedule your appointment for donation please contact AnnEllen Feltcorn at efeltcorn@cox.net or call (703) 425-3784. If you are concerned about eligibility based on medications or areas of restricted travel please contact our INOVA Blood Donor services advocate for a confidential consultation (571) 434-3387.

Food Drives: Olam Tikvah has had a long-standing tradition of having a canned food drive on Kol Nidre. We have added two more food drives, one in the winter when the food banks are low and one at Passover where we donate our “chametz” so that others may benefit. The two food banks we contribute to are Food For Others and ECHO.

Special Projects

Christmas Outreach: We participate in a wide range of projects, providing support within the community and enabling regular volunteers to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with their families. We coordinate dinner, entertainment and spend the night at the local church housing the homeless on Christmas Eve; drive meals to elderly and handicapped individuals who are alone on Christmas; provide and serve Christmas breakfasts to those families residing in the Katherine Hanley and Patrick Henry Family Shelters; provide brown bag breakfasts and brown bag lunches Christmas week to homeless person residing in the Bailey’s Crossroads shelter; and fill shoeboxes with new clothing for a Washington D.C. homeless shelter. See below for more information.

Sukkot in April: Each year, Olam Tikvah participates 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 14 and over are welcome, with adult supervision.

Books for Israel: We provide English books to a school in Rehovot, Israel. We donate many copies of a book chosen by the Israeli school for the children to read together. The books, labeled as a donation from Olam Tikvah, are passed from class to class and school to school.

Help Our People Everywhere: We coordinate with the B’nai B’rith lodge to have OT congregants drive Passover meals to Jewish persons in our community that are experiencing financial difficulties.

Valentine’s Day Party: Our congregants have a Valentine’s Day party for children residing in a family shelter.

Tuna Casseroles for SOME: So Others May Eat

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.

Call Shirley Baer with questions.

Casserole Recipe

Ingredients:

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

Cooking Directions:

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 Wednesdays, February 17, March 17, April 14, May 18*, June 16, and July 14, 2010. (*Due to Shavuot, please drop off SOME casseroles at OT for May on TUESDAY, May 18 no later than 2:00pm.)

3800 Glenbrook Road · Fairfax, Virginia 22031 · phone 703-425-1880 · fax 703-425-0835 · info@olamtikvah.org