Upon first glance, it looks like day camp. Kids trot from table to table with plastic toys and red, silky ribbons clutched in their tiny hands. Parents assist the little ones with their crayons and paper decorations. A constant excited chatter charges the air.
But these children and adults are not spending the morning making crafts for their own amusement. They are here to help others.
Sunday marked the third annual Mitzvah Day at Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael. After six months in the works, the three co-chairs organized 850 volunteers and 48 activities — up from 700 volunteers and 28 activities last year. By participating in such events as singing for the elderly, assembling first-aid packets for the homeless, gardening near Marinwood and hosting Halloween parties for abused children, the volunteers are working to make a difference in the community.
“We’re making it easier [to perform a mitzvah] with these projects,” says synagogue board member Ben Lipson. “We want to make [the act of mitzvah] part of people’s permanent consciousness.”
The synagogue is continuing the American Jewish tradition of giving to the “community at large,” says co-chair Rhonda Daniels. While some of the projects are aimed toward giving back to the Jewish community, most are geared to those in need, regardless of religion.
Struggling with a stapler, young volunteer Elissa Gensburg says, “I like doing this because I like helping other people.” Already a Mitzvah Day veteran, Gensburg explains that her paper decoration gig is only the first activity of the day. Later, she and other young volunteers are scheduled to appear at a convalescent home to entertain and talk to seniors.
At one table, eight volunteers sit close together as they attach pins to hundreds of red AIDS ribbons. Fifteen-year-old project coordinator Hannah Engle convinced craft stores to donate the materials, and organized the volunteers to cut and pin.
“The ribbons are to give to people on World AIDS Day,” she explains as her hands automatically continue to pin and tie. “They make so many more people aware of the disease.”
At another table across the room, a little girl is quietly stuffing toys and art supplies into plastic bags for children at the Dream House, a San Francisco homeless shelter sponsored by Jewish Family and Children’s Services. With donations from such large stores as Toys-R-Us and Target, the volunteers have already put together over 40 bags within the first hour.
“I just get a good feeling of doing something that will benefit the community and especially the children,” says project coordinator Joyce Vander Schuur. “The kids are really getting into this.”
Yet another table has children and adults alike assembling first-aid kits for San Rafael’s Ritter House, part of the Human Concern Center that assists the needy. About 10 volunteers shmooze around the table as bandages and ointments are methodically stuffed into sticker-decorated plastic bags.
And still, beyond these walls, hundreds of volunteers are singing, digging and cooking in hospitals, parks and kitchens throughout the county, getting down and dirty for the good of the community.