In addition to recruiting and organizing the volunteers, the East Bay organizations raised $13,375 to sponsor the six projects, including grants from the Milton & Sophie Meyer Fund, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund and World Savings.
Among the homes rehabilitated by last year’s Sukkot in April volunteers was that of 82-year-old Pleasanton resident Ella Stanhope. Stanhope’s lungs were scarred from blood clots that made it hard to breathe without an oxygen tank.
“I can’t describe it,” said Stanhope. “They’re doing so much more than I asked for. And they’re all just so happy to do it.”
This annual volunteer project takes its name from the fall Jewish holiday, Sukkot, which focuses on giving thanks and is celebrated by building and residing in a temporary shelter called a sukkah (plural: sukkot).
The project is coordinated by the Volunteer Action Center of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay in collaboration with local chapters of Rebuilding Together (formerly known as Christmas in April).
The participating organizations and the sites they are working are as follows:
Kehilla Community Synagogue and Jewish Youth for Community Action, a private home in Berkeley; Congregation Beth El, the Harrison House Emergency Shelter in Berkeley; Temple Beth Abraham and Congregation Beth Israel, a private home in Berkeley; Congregation Netivot Shalom and Berkeley Hillel, a private home in Berkeley; Temple Sinai, a private home in Oakland; Congregation B’nai Shalom, Temple Isaiah, Beth Chaim Congregation and federation leaders, the Contra Costa County Homeless Shelter in Concord.
The projects will all take place between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, call (510) 839-2900.