Action Opportunities
The ways that congregations can take action against hunger range from making one-time donations to a local food pantry to organizing a legislative advocacy campaign. While volunteer service and donations are invaluable to the operations of organizations that serve hungry people, we urge synagogues to take one more step. We encourage synagogues to think beyond direct-service activity and get involved in advocacy and organizing campaigns that have the potential to affect permanent change. Below is a list of direct service opportunities and advocacy campaigns that will facilitate synagogues’ action around hunger.
Direct Service
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Family Table is a program of Jewish Family and Children’s Services that assists hungry families in the community. Many area synagogues already participate in this program by collecting food or goods and making deliveries. For more information, contact Family Table Coordinator, at 617-566-0333 or mnesson@jfcsboston.org.
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The Greater Boston Food Bank relies on volunteers for its food collection and distribution to operate smoothly. Volunteer opportunities are available six days a week, with flexible hours, mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Call 617-427-5200 for more information. The Greater Boston Food Bank website can be found at http://www.gbfb.org/.
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Jewish Community Volunteer Program (JCVP) provides a central clearinghouse for action opportunities matching interests, skills and availability with a wide range of volunteer jobs in the Jewish and Greater Boston communities. In addition, JCVP functions as a volunteer center, providing consultation, training and resources to individuals, groups, and agencies. JCVP is a program of Combined Jewish Philanthropies and can be found online at http://www.cjp.org under “act now/volunteer.”
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Project Bread can act as a referral service for opportunities throughout the area, and often needs volunteers for its own programs. They also provide information on organizing a team for in the Walk for Hunger that is held each May. Contact the volunteer coordinator at 617-723-5000 for more information. Project Bread’s website can be found at http://www.projectbread.org/.
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Together We Can: A What, Why and How Handbook for Working to End Hunger in Your Community is a 35- page handbook produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has suggestions and step-by-step guides for ways that groups and individuals can combat hunger. http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsec/FILES/wecan.pdf
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The Preventative Food Pantry and Demonstration Kitchen at Boston Medical Center combines all the food pantries at BMC and provides culturally appropriate foods for standard and therapeutic diets. Boston Medical Center depends on volunteers for food donations and to assist with food distribution, picking up, sorting, and stocking supplies, and assisting the registered dietitian in the demonstration kitchen. For more information, please contact Volunteer Services at 617-414-5122 or the Food Pantry at 617-414-3834.
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The Grow Clinic for Children is an outpatient subspecialty clinic at Boston Medical Center, started in 1984. Children who are referred to the Grow Clinic have been diagnosed with a condition called Failure To Thrive (FTT). The children in the Grow Clinic are malnourished. Because malnutrition is both a medical problem and a social/economic condition, the clinic takes a multidisciplinary approach to the care of FTT children and their families. The Grow Clinic’s very successful outreach program helps patients’ families access essentials such as nutritious foods, clothing, transportation, proper housing, and other fundamental necessities. The Grow Clinic for Children welcomes volunteers in various capacities, ranging from organizing item drives, to running activities for children in the waiting room, to locating resources for individual families, to technical medical or social policy research and report writing. For more information on The Grow Clinic, please call 617-414-5251.
Websites
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Jewishservice.org connects organizations that enable youth and adults to engage in service domestically and around the world.
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Servenet.org also allows lay leaders to set up group profiles and search for volunteer opportunities by type of project and age of volunteers.
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Volunteermatch.org allows users to search for opportunities by zip code, and highlights opportunities available for youth and groups.
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Volunteersolutions.org unites potential volunteers with non-profits that need help. Lay leaders can establish the types of service his or her synagogue group is interested in participating in, and will receive email notification when such opportunities become available. United Way of Massachusetts Bay provides this, and can be contacted at 1-877-U-VOLUNTEER or http://www.uwmb.org/volunteer.htm .
Advocacy Campaigns
Unlike the service opportunities described above that address the needs of the current hungry population, advocacy is directed at changing the system that contributes to their plight. For example, rather than collecting food for those who cannot afford enough, being an advocate includes persuading the legislature to maintain food stamp programs and raise the minimum wage so that low-income people can earn enough to afford all of their basic needs. Methods of advocating include informing fellow congregants about issues of concern, organizing a synagogue program for local legislators, and contacting state senators and representatives.
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JCRC has a guide on How to Advocate for Government Programs and Legislation. For a more extensive description of how to lobby specifically from a faith perspective, and for information about the Massachusetts legislative process, see the advocacy guide produced by Faith Into Action Together (F.I.A.T.), a program of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. For a copy of the advocacy guide or to discuss becoming a part of JCRC’s synagogue legislative advocacy network, contact JCRC at 617-457-8600.
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To stay updated on current affairs, sign up for the JCRC Government Affairs’ regular e-mail update, the Jewish Community’s State House Action Alert. Send an e-mail to governmentaffairs@jcrcboston.org with the title “Sign up-State House Action Alert” and include your name and contact information in the body.
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The Manna Project is a campaign to pressure the food industry to donate a percentage of its proceeds toward fighting hunger. A joint project of Jvibe.com and Socialaction.com, it is in its beginning stages and synagogues can become actively involved. Information on the campaign can be found at http://www.socialaction.com/manna.
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