Shul News & Notes

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

As most shul members know, the Tikkun Olam group at our shul maintains several beds at Treiber Farm, where nonprofit groups can grow veggies and herbs for charitable causes. The collective beds are called Common Ground, and they are sizeable, requiring a lot of helping hands to keep the veggies well and healthy, and the beds weeded and cleaned.

Madelyn Rothman is there several days a week, often joined by others active in Tikkun Olam’s gardening effort, including Adrianne Greenberg, Veronica Kaliski, Susan Rosenstreich and Cookie Slade.

Planted are many varieties of herbs, plus veggies that are harvested when ready and delivered to CAST for distribution to CAST clients seeking a little help in providing foods that taste good and offer the nutritional value of fresh veggies.

Maintaining three beds and giving the results of the labors is satisfying work, says Veronica Kaliski, who organized the group and heads its charitable work schedule. But the group surely could use some hands-on help, she points out. Anyone interested?

If so, please email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Veronica. All welcome.

Veronica Kaliski photo