These days, it seems as though the Big Red Barrel is as ubiquitous at our shul as a basket of yarmulkas or a stack of prayer books. And just as beneficial to the recipients. As the photo shows, the school supplies drive yielded full barrels of supplies for the children of CAST clients, giving the kids a good start in organizing their pens and pencils and notebooks in readiness for the assignments ahead — and the book bags to haul all those items to classes.

Our shul has filled those big red barrels with personal care items for families and, last year, the start of the annual Cans For CAST drive, when shul members arriving for High Holiday services brought cans to help feed those struggling with food insecurity. The Cans For CAST project is part of a global initiative titled the Fast of Isaiah — sharing food with the hungry, as called for in the Biblical Book of Isaiah. Sure enough, when the High Holidays approach this year, expect to see the big red barrel once again, as worshippers at our shul contribute small cans of food that have an enormous positive impact in our community.

Veronica Kaliski, chair of the Tikkun Olam Initiative at our shul, reported that CAST came two times to empty the overflowing barrel of school supplies and, of course, a final time to take away another filled barrel at the end of the drive. To all who participated, many thanks for your charitable contributions.  Adrianne Greenberg photo