Dear Cindy & Rabbi Goldwasser,
As you know, the work of tikkun olam is our common endeavor, and that work merits respect and appreciation. On behalf of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism (CSA), it is our pleasure to inform you that your congregation has won an Irving J. Fain Social Action Award for your outstanding initiative, Take and Eat. We were inspired by your congregation’s sense of community responsibility. Mazel Tov!
The Fain Awards will be presented at the Religious Action Center’s Consultation on Conscience, held in Washington, D.C., May 1-3, 2011. It is our hope that representatives from your congregation will attend the Consultation and receive the award certificate during the program. By receiving this award during the plenary, your congregation will serve as an inspiration, encouraging others in our Movement to undertake similar initiatives. Additionally, a special photograph will be taken of your delegation receiving the award from CSA leadership and sent to your congregation following Consultation.
You can register for the Consultation now by visiting our online Registration Page. To further applaud your efforts, we are offering you a special discount registration rate of $60-off . We ask that you complete the Fain - Consultation RSVP to indicate the representative(s) who will be accepting the award at Consultation, so we are able to organize the award presentation and photograph schedule.
In addition, we look forward to highlighting your incredible work over the next two years! The Fain Award-winning programs will be compiled in a brochure that is distributed during the Consultation and circulated widely within our Movement. Your work will be highlighted in our Social Action Monthly e-newsletter, on webinars and during conferences and, of course, added to the Social Action Program Bank.
If you have any questions about the Consultation or the Fain Award process moving forward, please feel free to contact Deborah Swerdlow.
And once again, let us say: Mazel Tov!
Marzy & Naomi
Marzy Bauer Naomi Abelson
Chair, Irving J. Fain Award Committee Social Action Specialist
Commission on Social Action Union for Reform Judaism
& Religious Action Center
Naomi Abelson
Social Action Specialist
Union for Reform Judaism
Serving Reform Jewish Congregations of North America
633 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10017
212.650.4162
www.urj.org/socialaction
CBI’s Take and Eat program provides hot, nutritious meals one Sunday each month for every homebound senior in the city of North Adams. The program is run by volunteers who plan, purchase, cook, package and deliver an average of 125 meals. Most preparation takes place in the synagogue kitchen. Children prepare cards delivered with the meals. The drivers who deliver meals form enduring connections with the recipients. Some drivers take their kids with them to deliver meals. Volunteers learn about Jewish values associated with feeding the hungry. CBI coordinates with area churches to identify recipients and to provide meals every Sunday of the year.
Take and Eat is always looking for more people to get involved as volunteers and as donors. To volunteer to help shop, cook, bake, package or deliver meals, or to work on the cleanup crew in the kitchen on one Sunday a month, contact the CBI office. You can also be a Take and Eat "angel" by sponsoring one of the monthly meals. Your donation of $180 will feed every homebound senior in North Adams on one Sunday when they otherwise would go without a hot meal. Thank you for doing your part to make Take and Eat a nationally recognized leader in synagogue social action!
Congregation Beth Israel is a 2011 winner of the Irving J. Fain Social Action Award for our senior meals program, Take and Eat. The Fain Award is presented every two years by the Reform Movement's Commission on Social Action for programs that inspire community responsibility and tikkun olam (repairing the world). The Fain Awards will be presented at the Religious Action Center’s Consultation on Conscience, held in Washington, D.C., May 1-3, 2011
Take and Eat
