TBE Day of Service

Please join us for our 3rd Annual Day of Service! We will have many activities for hands and talents of all ages and abilities!

Service Projects at TBE

• Welcome HOME

• • • HOME volunteers come get your picture taken for our Volunteer wall so guests know who we are; or bring your own to add to the wall
    • Provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to families who are unhoused by completing new hand-knotted blankets 
    • Decorate night lights for our families’ rooms
    • Help spruce up the Family Room for guests who will arrive that day
    • Volunteer for a shift with our HOME hosting which starts April 19
    • Contact Mark Reynolds (homecoordinator@templebethelnj.org) with questions.
• Garden Cleanup
  • • Help spruce up TBE with planting and weeding. Bring gloves and tools.
    • Contact Vicki Schwartz or Jeff Rubin  (garden@templebethelnj.org) with questions.
• Add nameplates for New HHD Prayer Books
  • •  Contact Linda Paulasnki (prayerbooks@templebethelnj.org) to volunteer.
    • Adults only please

• Kitchen “Spring Cleaning”  with Ladles of Love Team

• • • Inventory review and thorough cleaning to make our kitchen more user-friendly! Contact Dana Shapiro and Rich Wolff (ladlesoflove@templebethelnj.org) to help

Adult Community Programs at TBE –REQUIRE REGISTRATION

• Blood Drive (more)
  • • 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The need is constant; the gratification is instant. Donors provide the only supply of life-saving blood for those in need.
    • Register  to give blood using this link.
    • To volunteer to work the drive, please contact Jacki Skole or Lori Becker (blooddrive@templebethelnj.org).

• Emergency First Aid Training 11AM-2PM

• • • Offered by Medic Zero training group
    • Includes CPR, AED use, choking skills, bleeding control
    • Register to participate here
    • Questions? Email Amy Rubin (amyrubin@templebethelnj.org)

Creating at TBE

• Kay’s Kits for CASA Teens – Hosted by the Member Engagement Committee
  • • These bags will provide needed feminine hygiene products packed with love for vulnerable teens served by CASA .
    • Contact Dora Cousineau at (chairmembership@templebethelnj.org)
•  Cards
  • • Get Well and Sympathy Cards to go with Ladles of Love deliveries (refuah shlemah)
• Elijah’s Promise Snack Bags
  • • Assemble snack bags for clients of Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick.  This is a fun, hands-on way to help ensure healthy snacks for those in need. We’ll also assemble utensil packs
    • Contact Tamar Yarkoni/Derek Adler (snackbags@templebethelnj.org).
• Homemade Snuffle Mats for SAVE Animal Shelter
  • • Weave and knot comfy fleece mats for pets
    • Contact Shiri Shapira (pettoys@templbethelnj.org) for more information
• Dry Soup Ingredient Jars
  • • Help assemble dry soup ingredient jars that will be donated to the Somerset Food Bank Network for local food insecure families.
    • New recipes! Making 200 jars this year!
    • Contact Amanda Hannum/Jess Keim(soupjars@templebethelnj.org)
• Fleece Blankets and Night Lights for HOME Guests 
  • • See “Welcome HOME” above for details

• Sandwich Making 
  • • Prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Elijah’s Promise.
    • Bundle plastic forks & spoons
    • Questions? Email Tamar Yarkoni (sandwichbags@templebethelnj.org)
• Advocacy at TBE

• • Civic Engagement
    • Voter Registration and information for upcoming elections
    • GOTV Postcards and  party sign-ups

• RAC-NJ DDDI Campaign (Detention Deportation Defense Initiative)

• • • Learn about need to increase funding for  legal  defense against illegal deportations, write postcards to state legislators

• Refugee Resettlement Table

• • • Add your family immigration story to our “family tree”
    • Know Your Rights information

• Postcards for Keshet – LGBTQ Equality in Jewish Life
  • • Write to your legislators to show your support for trans youth 

Collections at TBE

• Food Bank Network of Somerset County Donations
  • • For details of what we are collecting, click here. (With our collected items, we will build a structure of cans and boxes through the morning to display our donations; be creative!)
    • Contact Evan Lerner (fooddrive@templebethelnj.org) with any questions.
• Giving Network Household Collection
  • • The Sisterhood is collecting gently used household items for The Giving Network. Click here for a list of what the Giving Network accepts.
    • Please email Felicia Oberti and Linda Paulanski (sisterhoodevents@templebethelnj.org) with any questions.
      PLEASE- no clothing, toys, books, furniture , art work, or decorations. 

• Recycling Collection
  • • Temple Beth-El’s Green team welcomes you to bring the following hard-to-recycle items to Temple in the week leading up to and on our Day of Service on April 6: Batteries, styrofoam blocks, discarded pens and pencils, CDs/DVDs, used toner and ink cartridges, and wire coat hangers. We know you hate to put these items in the trash!
    • Please contact  Dave Cohen (greenteam@templebethelnj.org) with questions. 

• Bake Sale for Branchburg Fire Evacuees 
  • • All funds will be donated directly the HOME Emergency Fire Fund
    • Baked Goods are $1 (cash preferred)
    • Additional donations are welcomed (cash, check, Venmo)

Community Activities

• Grow-A-Row
  • • TBE Volunteers will participate in a Community volunteer event with America’s Grow-a-Row  on April 20. Help cut and plant potatoes, which produce hundreds of potatoes for those in need. Date and location:  April 20th from 9:00-12:00 at 150 Pittstown Rd, Pittstown, NJ 08867 Registration is required.
    • Please email Jeff Rubin at (CommunityHarvest@templebethelnj.org) to sign up.
• Singing at Laurel Circle – 100 Monroe St, Bridgewater 
  • • Join the choir in singing to assisted living residents.
    • Date and time TBD
    • If interested, please contact (Cantor Risa Wallach)