MLK Day of Service
Join Us for a Weekend of Interfaith Unity
Beth Am Israel, in partnership with Bethel AME Church of Ardmore, offers an Interfaith MLK Day of Service
January 18, 2021 / 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Serve Others.
Beth Am Israel’s Love Your Neighbor Committee is proud to present family, teen and adult SOCIAL JUSTICE opportunities for members and the public at large on MLK Day. Together, we can affect change. To make this a meaningful day, some offerings have an attendance capacity and require registration. Click the plus sign below to learn more and register.
At-home projects will be supported by PDF instructions, how-to videos and/or live Zoom instructions. Activities include:
Projects:
- Sara’s Smiles: Create cards for pediatric oncology patients. Registration closed.
- Valentine’s Crafts: Create valentine’s day crafts for seniors. Join here. Password is required. Please reach out to us to get the password.
- Care for Shelter Animals: Make dog toys for PAWS and PSPCA. Registration closed.
- Write letters to policymakers asking for support of climate change laws. Registration closed.
- Create welcome cards for new immigrants, specifically for the children of new refugee and asylum seekers. Registration closed.
- Make homemade eco-friendly cloth face masks. Materials needed: t-shirt or other cotton material, measuring tape, needle and thread, scissors. Video demonstration here.
- Read your favorite children’s book and record it on your phone. Get important INSTRUCTIONS here.
- DIY Clothing Drive: Collect clothes from family, friends, neighbors and sort through your collections. Drop off PRE SORTED AND LABELED clothes to Beth Am on January 18, from 9 am to 1 pm.
-
- What we are looking for: Men’s tops, men’s bottoms, women’s tops, women’s bottoms, children, outerwear, and shoes, new underwear and socks. Each category gets its own bag and must be labeled. RSVP here for this activity.
-
Cooking:
-
- Make casserole meals at home on MLK DAY, for no-contact delivery to those who are experiencing food insecurity. Registration closed. Specifically, we will cook one casserole together at 10:15 am to 12:15pm. This service activity is suitable for any age with adult supervision for the younger children. Recipients of our casseroles will be: Homeless shelters: St. Johns Hospice, Life Center, Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, Project Hope or other family/organizations in need. If you need an aluminum pan for the casserole, please sign up below and we’ll have one available for you to pick up at Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA before MLK Day.
- Make casseroles at home (anytime) and deliver to Beth Am Israel on MLK Day. Instructions and information here.
- Assemble no-bake snacks for front-line workers on MLK Day: Instructions and information here, which includes demonstration video, ingredients list, and where to deliver snacks.
- “Assemble Breakfast Bags” for Elderly experiencing food insecurity. Instructions and Register here.
Questions? Contact mitzvot@bethamisrael.org.
Items will be accepted at Beth Am Israel on
January 18, 2021 ONLY between 9am and 1pm. Beth Am Israel is located at 1301 Hagys Ford Road in Penn Valley, PA.
Masks must be worn.
Drop off items include:
- electronic recycling – anything with a plug
- canned, non-perishable food
- children’s books
- sorted, new or gently used clothing (categorized and labeled by size). Learn more here.
Additionally, there will be a free gun lock distribution. Gun locks will fit all guns. Do NOT bring a gun.
Questions? Contact mitzvot@bethamisrael.org.
E-Recycling Drop-off
Print flyer.
Masks must be worn.
Drop off anything with a plug, at Beth Am Israel, anytime between 9am and 1pm on January 18, 2021.
E-cycling is collected by PAR RECYCLE WORKS. PAR Recycle Works is a local nonprofit that sells reusable materials from electronic devices to support reintegrating formerly incarcerated men and women into the workforce. Recycle almost anything with a plug, for free! Some items require a small disposal fee; for these, please bring cash or check. To view fees for certain items download the flyer. Recycle: TVs, Monitors, Air Conditioners, Dehumidifiers, Air Purifiers, and Microwaves.
Questions? Contact mitzvot@bethamisrael.org.
Black and Jewish Relations in a Time of Crisis
Heschel and King marched together 55 years ago. A lot has happened since! A lot has happened just in the past few years:
Charlottesville, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Black Lives Matter, expressions of anti-Semitism in our own community. How do we build and sustain positive and productive intercommunal and interreligious relationships in this time of crisis?
What Might MLK have had to say about 2020 Racial Justice Protests?
Summary: A frank discussion about the 2020 protest movement and events with Rev. Carolyn Cavaness, Bethel AME Church of Ardmore. Explore how the unrest we witnessed impacted the local West Philadelphia Area community specifically. Hear from a store owner whose business was impacted.
- Speaker/Facilitator: Reverend Carolyn Cavaness, Bethel AME, Ardmore, Pa (Bio)
- Time: 10:15 am
- Location: Zoom.
- Registration now closed.
Pardons in Pennsylvania: Understanding the Problem; Becoming Part of the Solution
Tobey Oxholm III, Exec. Director of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, will teach how to be a Pardon Application Coach, helping people get a fresh start.
- Speaker/Facilitator: Tobey Oxholm, Executive Director of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (Bio)
- Time: 12:00 noon
- FREE CLE credit available for lawyers
- Location: Zoom.
- Registration now closed.
Triple Pandemic: Aging, Racism and Covid
Many older people have great difficulty when age, poverty and race intersect, making people more vulnerable to food and housing insecurity. Understand how COVID has complicated the normal stresses for older people and how isolation and loneliness further make a difficult situation critical. Hear from experts on how we need to assure justice and fairness in housing for the most vulnerable older people and how we can address food insecurity in our own community.
- Speaker/Facilitator: Beth Am Member and Board Member of the Senior Law Center, Cyndee Wishkovsky (Bio)
- Time: 11:15 am
- Location: Zoom.
- Registration now closed.
Open Heart Processing Station
An opportunity for participants to reflect on and process conversations of the day as well as experiences of this past year relating to racial justice. In the spirit of Dr. King, our hope is to provide a brave space for supportive sharing and collaborative discussion of impact and insights. Teens and adults welcome.
- Speaker/Facilitator: Barbra Berley Mellits and Sam Sittenfield
- Time: 12 noon
- Location: Zoom. R
- Registration now closed.
Teen Discussions
Race, Reflection & Response
A space for teens to examine and discuss the racial inequities highlighted by the events of 2020, sharing their responses and experiences with the horror and with hope.
- Speaker/Facilitator: Mira Shore, Noah Lipsitz and Esther Werbach
- Time: 10:15 am
- Location: Zoom.
- Registration now closed.
Triple Pandemic – Aging, Racism and Covid
Many older people have great difficulty when age, poverty and race intersect, making people more vulnerable to food and housing insecurity. Understand how COVID has complicated the normal stresses for older people and how isolation and loneliness further make a difficult situation critical. Hear from experts on how we need to assure justice and fairness in housing for the most vulnerable older people and how we can address food insecurity in our own community.
- Speaker/Facilitator: Beth Am Member and Board Member of the Senior Law Center, Cyndee Wishkovsky (Bio)
- Time: 11:15 am
- Location: Zoom.
- Registration now closed.
Open Heart Processing Space
An opportunity for participants to reflect on and process conversations of the day as well as experiences of this past year relating to racial justice. In the spirit of Dr. King, our hope is to provide a brave space for supportive sharing and collaborative discussion of impact and insights. Teens and adults welcome.
- Speaker/Facilitator: Barbra Berley-Mellits and Sam Sittenfield
- Time: 12:15 pm
- Location: Zoom.
- Registration now closed.
Socially-Distanced Service Projects
Creating:
- Sara’s Smiles: Create cards for pediatric oncology patients. Registration now closed.
- Valentine’s Crafts: Create valentine’s day crafts for seniors. Registration now closed.
- Care for Shelter Animals: Make dog toys for PAWS and PSPCA. Registration now closed.
- Write letters to policymakers asking for support of climate change laws. Registration now closed.
- Create welcome cards for new immigrants, specifically for the children of new refugee and asylum seekers. Registration now closed.
- Make homemade eco-friendly cloth face masks. Materials needed: t-shirt or other cotton material, measuring tape, needle and thread, scissors. Video demonstration here.
- Read your favorite children’s book and record it on your phone. Get important INSTRUCTIONS here.
Sorting and Donating:
- DIY Clothing Drive: Collect clothes from family, friends, neighbors and sort through your collections. Drop off PRE SORTED AND LABELED clothes to Beth Am on January 18, from 9 am to 1 pm.
-
- What we are looking for: Men’s tops, men’s bottoms, women’s tops, women’s bottoms, children, outerwear, and shoes, new underwear and socks. Each category gets its own bag and must be labeled. RSVP here for this activity.
-
Cooking:
-
-
- Make casserole meals at home on MLK DAY, for no-contact delivery to those who are experiencing food insecurity. Registration now closed. Specifically, we will cook one casserole together – online – at 10:15 am to 12:15pm. This service activity is suitable for any age with adult supervision for the younger children. Recipients of our casseroles will be: Homeless shelters: St. Johns Hospice, Life Center, Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, Project Hope or other family/organizations in need. If you need an aluminum pan for the casserole, please sign up below and we’ll have one available for you to pick up at Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA before MLK Day.
- Make casseroles at home (anytime) and deliver to Beth Am Israel on MLK Day. Instructions and information here.
- Assemble no-bake snacks for front-line workers on MLK Day: Instructions and information here, which includes demonstration video, ingredients list, and where to delivery snacks.
- “Assemble Breakfast Bags” for Elderly experiencing food insecurity. Instructions and Register here.
-
Questions? Contact mitzvot@bethamisrael.org.
VIEW this Portrait Gallery
This MLK Day of Service is proudly brought to you by Beth Am Israel in partnership with Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Ardmore
“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail, 1963
Questions? Contact mitzvot@bethamisrael.org.
We still could use a lot of Volunteer Help.
Can you lend a hand? Contact mitzvot@bethamisrael.org.
Beth Am Israel, in partnership with Zion Baptist Church and Main Line Reform Synagogue, is grateful to have participated in a Unity Prayer Service (on Zoom) January 15th and January 17th.
Please view this video, sung by The Main Line Unity Choir of Lower Merion, PA. Our Country May It Be” is a new and urgent take on “My Country Tis of Thee”. These new words were written by Rev. Margaret Somerville.