Passover Distribution Success Stories!

Passover is a celebration of all times in our history when people have struggled to overcome obstacles or sought help for a better life.  Today, while slavery no longer oppresses Americans, hunger, joblessness, and homelessness has taken away the freedom of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. We, at Met Council, work every day to alleviate these burdens and assist those in need, especially on Passover. 


Last Passover, we helped 50,275 hungry Jewish households in their pursuit of a better life.  We distributed over $627,000 in food vouchers to allow people to shop with dignity in select local grocery stores.  Distribution sites in 118 locations throughout the five boroughs opened their doors to easily and conveniently distribute the food in high-need neighborhoods.  Over 1,722,000 pounds of produce and 50,000 pounds of poultry we provided ended up on Seder tables throughout New York.   

This  year, volunteers were an integral part in helping us to distribute Kosher for Passover food to hundreds of families and individuals in need across New York.

On Sunday March 10th, the Met Council Volunteer Department and a troop of 25 Israeli Scouts met to help the New York Board of Rabbis make over 200 Passover Packages to be sent to inmates across New York State. They made quick work of it and the event went flawlessly! Thank you to the volunteers and clients who came out to help!

Then on Sunday, March 17th, over 60 volunteers from Bnai Jeshurun, Forest Hills Key Club, AmeriCorps NCCC, Manhattan Jewish Center and other groups joined in to help at Met Council's Family Violence Passover Distribution. This annual event is held to benefit the clients of our Family Violence department- ultimately, the day's efforts benefited over 320 individuals! The event was held at Masbia Community Kitchen and the thousands of pounds of fresh food and Matzoh was provided by Met Council's Food Warehouse.

On behalf of all our clients and Met Council staff, thank you for your acts of charity and deeds of kindness. Happy Passover! 

March 2013 Volunteer of the Month- Anne Craig

Congratulations to Anne Craig, our Volunteer of the Month for March 2013!

We thank her for her dedication as an office volunteer for the past several months. She has single handedly helped our low-income housing department, fundraising department, and HR/Benefits department meet pressing deadlines. 

 Anne is a vivacious individual that pours her energy into caring for others. She is from the Bronx and is a huge Yankees Fan. When she isn’t volunteering, she enjoys visiting Rockefeller Center because she gets to mingle with people from all walks of life who come to visit New York each year, especially during the holiday season. Anne has been such a welcoming and warm person that is a pleasure sharing the office with as a volunteer. 

She first came across Met Council while searching for office volunteer opportunities on the web. Once she had read up on the mission of Met Council to fight poverty in NYC, she wanted to become a part of the action at any capacity she could. Prior to volunteering for Met Council, she worked in Benefits for many years. She brings with her to Met Council, great skill on the phone with clients, tedious database management, and excellent communication skills.

She wanted to volunteer because, as she describes, “it provides me with the opportunity to move away from my comfort zone. It is offering me the chance to work in different areas at Met Council, spend time with new friends, and expand my networking and enhancing my social skills.”

Her time with Met Council has been positive for her, the staff, and the countless clients that ultimately benefit from her efforts. By far the most rewarding part of volunteer for her has been, “The encouragement and support that I have received are rewarding and I look forward to coming into the office.  The friends that I have made are an extra bonus.”

Thank you and congratulations Anne!

New Passover Distribution Opportunity

       JCC PASSOVER DISTRIBUTION       



Dates & Times: Dates and Times vary by location
Location: 9 different locations throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
Number of Volunteers: 3 individuals per location

Description:

Each year, Met Council provides hundreds of thousands of individuals and families Kosher for Passover food to ensure everyone can celebrate such a significant holiday. Our local Jewish Community Councils (JCC’s) are on the forefront of providing these services such as kosher food pantries, crisis services, and benefits enrollment. Our JCC’s are located in areas with heavy Jewish populations, and, in the few weeks before Passover, will distribute thousands of Kosher for Passover food packages.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in making this event run more effectively and efficiently by passing out flyers to clients during the distribution. These flyers provide these clients with information regarding SNAP (Food Stamps) eligibility. SNAP helps ensure that poor and near-poor families can get the food they need for Passover as well as additional informational pamphlets to let them know about Met Council services that could benefit them.

 Met Council strives to help the poor and near poor with dignity and respect of Jewish values, however we serve everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion.

Duties: 

Volunteers will distribute informational pamphlets regarding SNAP eligibility to clients at the distribution.
 

Contact:

If interested, or for more information, please contact Jared Kunze at jkunze@metcouncil.org

New Sandy Relief Volunteer Opps

Volunteer to Fix the Damages of Hurricane Sandy

Even though Hurricane Sandy was months ago, many are still suffering the consequences in hard hit areas such as Far Rockaway. Met Council offices were flooded and closed for several weeks, but that has not deterred us from serving our clients in their time of need. Let our clients know they aren’t forgotten by helping out! Here are some ideas:

Mold Remediation

2-3 hours, Sunday, March 10th and 17th in Staten Island
9am-5pm, Sunday, March 17th in Far Rockaway
Mold removal is a critical part of the recovery effort for communities affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Help be part of the solution by volunteering for one of our mold remediation opportunities.  Volunteers will be working with experienced volunteer leaders who will guide volunteers with removing and drying mold from homes affected by Sandy as well as provide necessary training and safety equipment.

For more information, email metcouncilvolunteer@gmail.com with subject line "Mold Remediation."  Or to sign up for the event, please fill out this form to volunteer in Far Rockaway or this form to volunteer in Staten Island.

Food Distribution Centers in Coney Island need your help!

Weekdays and weekends
Coney Island, Brooklyn
Many Coney Island non-profits have been on the frontlines of Hurricane since day one, and are still serving thousands of hot meals daily. Help the  Coney Island community by helping serve meals, organizing the daily donations coming in and lending a general hand with small tasks around the distribution centers. This is a great way to get involved with the locals and help the community hands-on.

For more information, email metcouncilvolunteer@gmail.com with subject line "Food Distribution."

Matzah Passover Distribution

10am-2pm, Sunday, March 17th
Midland Beach, Staten Island
Help Jewish families impacted by Sandy recover and prepare for the holidays.  Passover is an expensive holiday, and by giving out Matzah - a staple of the Passover seder - you will help curb the costs of the holiday, allowing families to continue to financially recover from the storm.  This is a great opportunity to directly give back to help hurricane victims during the holiday.

For more information, email metcouncilvolunteer@gmail.com with subject line "Matzah Distribution." Or to sign up for this event, please fill out this form. 

Passover Entertainment

1-2 hours, March 28-31
Basking Ridge, NJ
A New Jersey hotel is donating Passover accommodation for Jewish families in Far Rockaway hit by Hurricane Sandy. There will be a lot of kids at the hotel during this holiday that will need cheering up. Met Council is looking for kids’ entertainment, such as balloon animals, music, magic, on any of the days between March 28th and 31st.

For more information, email metcouncilvolunteer@gmail.com with subject line "Passover Entertainment."

Volunteer Oppotunity: DV Passover Food Distribution

             DV PASSOVER FOOD DISTRIBUTION

Date: March 17th, 2013

Time: Packaging from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm, and distribution from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Description: Come and help provide a Passover meal to the clients of our Family Violence Program. Met Council established the Family Violence Program in 1995 to address the increasing awareness of the problem of domestic violence in the metropolitan area. With the help of volunteers, we can provide the extra reassurance and moral support to our clients by providing them with a Passover meal.

Duties: Distribution activities will include the packaging of kosher food items and distributing these packages to the clients on site.

Location: 1372 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn, NY

If interested, please fill out the form at the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/dvpassover

For more information, please contact the volunteer department at volunteer@metcouncil.org

Volunteer of the Month

Taking Service Seriously: Abraham Joshua Heschel School

For this month’s featured volunteer, we decided to go a different route: while in the past we’ve recognized certain individuals with an outstanding commitment to service, this month we chose to honor one of our partner organizations, Abraham Joshua Heschel School, who has gone above and beyond to help New Yorkers living in poverty.

This month alone Heschel School mobilized 240 high school students to participate in 11 projects across 4 different locations to help with relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy.  Heschel’s students and staff recognized that – five months later – there was still work to be done to aid long-term recovery for communities affected by last year’s superstorm.  In response, Heschel volunteers cleaned up storm debris, prepared a new warehouse for item storage, assisted low-income senior housing residents, and conducted critical needs assessments.  All of these projects served to help residents and communities get their lives back on track. 

This wasn’t the first time Heschel has engaged in community service at Met Council.  In the past, Heschel volunteers have served hot meals, made hundreds of lunches, assembled food packages, and distributed benefits access materials to low income neighborhoods.   Abraham Joshua Heschel School’s remarkable commitment to service and tireless work for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts has made them formidable partners in fighting poverty.  And for this reason, Heschel is featured as our volunteers of the month.