Community Corner
Local Synagogue "Packs It Up for Purim" to Feed the Hungry
Pack it up for Purim, a community-wide effort, will allow the Pelham Jewish Center to bring food and compassion to an elder population in Co-op City.
This week the Pelham Jewish Center is gathering non-perishable groceries for a food drive called "Pack It Up for Purim."
Rachel Collins, a member of the center, is heading the initiative locally.
“We have a really strong social action program at the Pelham Jewish Center,” Collins said. “We are always looking for different opportunities.”
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One such opportunity came to the synagogue by way of the UJA-Federation of New York, which has collaborated with AmeriCorps for "Pack it Up for Purim," an effort that seeks to create and donate 1,000 food packages to New Yorkers in need. The UJA is partnering with several local organizations, including the Pelham Jewish Community Center, to deliver food to those who need it.
“There are four mitzvot, which are commandments, that you are supposed to do for the holiday of Purim,” Collins said. “One of them is giving to the needy.”
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A previous experience this fall set the stage for the center’s involvement in "Pack It Up for Purim."
“We did something very similar to this for Thanksgiving,” Collins said. “We did a Thanksgiving in a Box program with two other churches [Huguenot Memorial Church and Our Lady of Perpetual Help] in town, where we had a specific list of food items to pack up in a box and then we delivered them to Westchester Family Services agencies.”
As part of its extensive social action program, the Pelham Jewish Center already had fostered a relationship with the Bronx Jewish Community Center, giving the organization Hanukkah and Passover boxes. The Bronx Jewish Community Center has a large elderly homebound population in Co-op City to which it provides services. The food packages the Pelham Jewish Community Center collects for "Pack It Up for Purim" will directly help these Co-op City residents.
Collins said that all of Pelham is encouraged to participate in "Pack it Up for Purim." Collections will be accepted until Thursday, March 10. To donate, bring your contribution to the Pelham Jewish Center and leave it in the front hall closet.
The Pelham Jewish Center is located at 451 Esplanade Ave. Please refer to the flyer for further information.
