By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer
For 20 years, Chabad of Greater Dayton Co-Director Devorah Mangel has been preparing Shabbat meals for individuals in hospitals or at home following surgery or illness, or when they are in mourning.

Now, she and volunteers with the Chabad Women’s Circle will expand the project with a new program, Loves Of Love And More.

On Feb. 16, Women’s Circle volunteers came together at Chabad in Oakwood to prepare 30 kosher meals — challah, chicken, kugel, and cookies — which they froze to keep on hand for delivery when needs arise in the Jewish community — and not just for Shabbat.

“I thought, what a wonderful opportunity because it’s human nature to want to help others,” Mangel said. “We always want to be on the giving end. The more people we involve also allows us to give more, and to see where the needs are.”

Loaves Of Love And More is the latest of several food-related-projects that local Jewish organizations offer to those in financial or spiritual need, for the Jewish and general communities.

All local synagogues, along with Chabad and Hillel Academy Jewish day school collect non-perishable food for the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton’s Food Pantry, housed at Covenant Manor in Trotwood. The pantry is available to anyone in financial need in the general community.

During March and April, the Feinstein Foundation of Cranston, R.I. will match all food and monetary donations to the Federation Food Pantry as part of the Federation’s Hametz for the Hungry campaign.

Mary Ann Hemmert, director of Jewish Family Services — the Federation agency that oversees its food programs — said those who use the food pantry come from all age groups and include families and younger people.

She said she’s seen the needs increase over the past few years.

“I think it speaks to the demographics of the Montgomery County area,” Hemmert said.

JFS also oversees the Federation’s kosher lunch site at Covenant Manor and its kosher home-delivered meals program. “We’re the only kosher meal site in Montgomery County,” Hemmert said. “We serve kosher meals at the nutrition site, through Bernstein’s Fine Catering, five days a week.”

Hemmert said JFS staff ask lunch site clients to provide a donation of $2 per meal, but no one is turned away.

Those who come to the meal site, Hemmert said, tend to be over 50. Those who use the home-delivered meal service tend to be elderly, “because most of those individuals are homebound,” she added.

The charge for each home-delivered kosher meal is $5 for private-pay clients; Hemmert said Medicaid pays for meals for low-income individuals.

Funding for these services comes from the Federation’s annual campaign, the Montgomery County Human Services Levy, and the United Way.

With inclement weather, Hemmert said, the needs increase for all services.

The Federation also allocates funding to JFS that includes specific assistance for members of the Jewish community. In addition to providing funds for rent, utilities, and medical expenses on an as-needed basis, JFS case managers distribute Kroger gift cards to clients in need.

“We have been fortunate since I have been here not to have to turn anyone away,” Hemmert said. “But my sense is that there’s more need out there than we’re aware of. People want to be as independent as possible and we applaud that and recognize that. But if you’re in a bind and if there are issues that come up and you’re not sure where to turn, at least give us a try. Give us a call and see if we can help in any way.”

Another Federation-related project to combat hunger is overseen by the Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council. The JCRC runs the only kosher site for the Dayton community’s annual Day of Caring Breakfast fund raiser, scheduled for Feb. 23 this year, at the Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education.

Area synagogues also identify hunger-related needs and tailor projects to do their part.
“There is a teacher at Englewood Elementary, Lisa Wertz, who took it upon herself to look out for the kids who are on school lunch/breakfast programs at her school,” Beth Abraham Synagogue Cantor Andrea Raizen explained.

“She was concerned about what happens on weekends. So she started her own collection of food to send home bags of food with them on the weekends. The school lets her use a closet space to keep non-perishable items. Helen Abramowitz got me connected with her and she came to talk to the religious school kids in the fall. We decided we wanted to help her and did a collection at Tu B’Shevat and delivered a nice amount of food to the school.”

Temple Israel’s social action committee prepares “mitzvah meals” for its members in need and serves meals at St. Vincent de Paul; Beth Jacob congregants also serve meals at St. Vincent de Paul. And students in Temple Israel’s religious school prepare meals for clients at Daybreak.

“Karin Hirschkatz was interested in helping find a way for our students to have a consistent, hands-on experience of being a mensch (a humane person), rather than learning about how to be a mensch, and proposed the idea,” Temple Israel’s Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz said of the Daybreak project.

“We have had students in the third grade through the ninth grade involved in the program during religious school,” she added. “Students will meet as a class and each class prepares lunches one time during the year. When a class is scheduled for Daybreak, they will bring the ingredients, watch a short video about Daybreak, discuss the role of Daybreak in our community and our obligation of tikun olam (repairing the world), make 30 lunches (15 beef bologna and 15 cheese sandwiches, a snack, drink, fruit), and hand write notes to put into each lunch.”

Each year, Temple Beth Or focuses on a theme connected to tikun olam, repair of the world. Rabbi Judy Chessin said this year’s theme is environmental concerns. At this point, she said the plan is to create a sustainable garden to provide produce for those in need, a project the JCC summer camp has also undertaken for the past few years.

JFS volunteers also prepare and deliver more than 100 gift bags with holiday treats for homebound seniors at Purim, the High Holy Days and Chanukah. This, Hemmert said, is a reminder that the Jewish community is thinking of them. Wendi Pavlofsky chairs the project.

At Chabad, Mangel said she’s looking for more volunteers to help with Loaves Of Love And More.

Seed money for the project came from Chabad, Wendi and Erv Pavlofsky, and an anonymous donor. Marci Vandersluis volunteers to coordinate the program.

Mangel said girls with Chabad’s Bat Mitzvah Club will also help out, to teach them about bikur cholim (visiting the sick) and acts of kindness.

“I’m hoping when people see all this happening, it will be self-funding,” Mangel said. “We want to make sure those who receive meals know this isn’t on a financial-need basis. We all end up on the receiving end at one point in our lives. We’re all happy to have extra thoughts from friends.”

To read the complete 2014 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.