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Friday January 11, 2008

Calling all volunteers for South Bay community service

by stacey palevsky
staff writer

One day, 1,000 hours.

That’s what event coordinators hope to achieve during the first Albert L. Schultz JCC Mitzvah Day on Monday, Jan. 21, in honor of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They hope a few hundred people will contribute those 1,000 hours through local volunteer work.

“This is a chance to really have a broad impact across the community,” said Jane-Rachel Schonbrun, adult community program manager at the JCC.

The event is co-sponsored by a dozen Jewish organizations. Schonbrun wants as many people as possible to use MLK Day as an opportunity for service and learning, not simply a day off from work.

Opportunities are varied and many are suitable for families with young children. Volunteers can choose from projects like:

• Working on dune and bluff restoration in Half Moon Bay or planting trees in Palo Alto

• Organizing and hosting an estate sale as a fundraiser for Jewish Family and Children Services

• Rebuilding homes for low-income individuals and families

• Making care packages for Israeli and American soldiers

• Serving food at homeless shelters in the South Bay

• Visiting residents at a senior center

• Constructing book shelves for needy schools

“We want to have as much variety as possible so everyone can find something that excites them,” Schonbrun said.

Some projects require only a two-hour commitment, while others require volunteers to spend the whole day on their project. All volunteers will meet at Kehillah Jewish Community High School in Palo Alto to shmooze, eat breakfast and connect with the community before spreading out to their respective volunteer sites. Pre-registration is required.

Other Jewish organizations co-sponsoring the Mitzvah Day include BBYO, Congregation Beth Am, Congregation Emek Beracha, Congregation Etz Chayim, Congregation Kol Emeth, the Friendship Circle, Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, Hillel at Stanford, Jewish Family & Children’s Services, Keddem Congregation, Kehillah Jewish High School and Temple Beth Jacob.

Schonbrun hopes the Mitzvah Day will become an annual event.

For more information and to register, go to www.paloaltojcc.org/mitzvah or contact Jane-Rachel Schonbrun at (650) 852-3502 or jschonbrun@paloaltojcc.org.

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