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The hubbub of the holiday season is everywhere. Television shows
capture the excitement. Songs emanate from the radio. But for many,
the media presents only the façade. It doesn’t capture the
challenges, the pain or the anguish or the season. When everyone
seems to be rushing to the malls to purchase toys, electronic
equipment and jewelry, there are those who are wondering how they
will put food on their tables and clothe their children.
The impact of the economy is agonizing for many of Jewish Family
Services’ clients but the effect upon their families is often heart
wrenching. There are no presents for those families whose primary
breadwinner lost their jobs. There are no gifts for those families
who work hard every day yet remain the working poor.
Jewish Family Services assists individuals and families to improve
their lives and life prospects through its counseling and care
management services. But sometimes, a little bit more is needed. So
JFS initiated a multitude of giving programs to help families
surpass their immediate crisis. And surpass they did. More than 200
families received food from our food closet, school supplies from
our Back-to-School project and thanksgiving meals from Thanksgiving
Giving. Then JFS partnered with the United States Marines as a
collection station for the delivery of Toys for Tots.
And the giving continued. More than 27 families or 65 individuals
were the recipients of our Adopt-A-Family program. Coordinated by
staff members Stephanie Parisi and Penny Zappacosta, recipient
families were identified through the agency’s clinical and care
management staffs. The law firms of McCarter and English, Reed Smith
LLP, Saul Ewing LLP, Monzack, Mersky, McLaughlin and Prowder, P.A.,
and Campbell & Levine, LLC., as well as Creekside Nutrition,
Friendly Gift Shop and the Harvest Time Fellowship purchased coats,
sweaters, sneakers, bathrobes, rain boots, kitchen supplies,
bicycles, WIIs, IPads and toys. The Ross and Bloom families provided
cash assistance and gift cards. On December 23rd all the gifts were
personally delivered.
The challenges of these families became the opportunities for
giving. And as we all know, tzedakah is really not about giving; it
is about being.
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