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Christmas Mitzvah volunteers lend helping hands each year


by Deborah Silverthorn

Special to DJW

Jack Shaw first started volunteering with the Christmas Mitzvah program 20 years ago. Now 78, he brings his wife Chick, son Eric, and grandchildren Kyla, 17, and Zack, 15, each year for his visit at Baylor Medical Center - Irving.

Initiated and sponsored by the Brotherhood of Temple Emanu-El for the past 31 years, the program last year drew 267 volunteers on Christmas eve and Christmas day from that synagogue, Congregations Anshai Torah, Beth Torah and Temple Shalom, and unaffiliated individuals.

"We are so grateful for the help that the volunteers offer year in and year out," said LouAnne Smith, volunteer coordinator of Doctors Hospital in Dallas, one of 14 facilities that will receive help next week. "Because of their assistance, we can continue to offer the care that our patients expect and deserve, and provide assistance to our staff without a break in their routine."

Brad Wohlander has coordinated the program for the past eight years.

"This is a great mitzvah program for families to participate in together," said Wohlander, whose son Jason, 18, has joined him for the past six years.

"This is one of my busiest days as I try to get to each facility, even for a short visit, to see how things are going," he said. "By the end of each event, I look back and realize this is one of the activities I most enjoy being a part of. You just know you are appreciated and have made a difference for someone else's holiday."

By logging onto the xmasmitzvah.com Web site, volunteers can register by requesting the facility, volunteer position and shift they are interested in. Openings are available to help with cooking, serving and delivering meals; to greet and guide visitors; and to help with filing, errands and general paperwork.

Noting there is much programming scheduled on Christmas, Marianne LeCour, director of resident services at Golden Acres, said the volunteers "enrich the life and mood of our facility."

Volunteers help with feeding residents, transporting them around the facility and, she said, "sharing stories and reminiscing with them or maybe just playing cards or another game."

Opportunities are available for volunteers "from the littlest of helpers on up," LeCour said, noting the event is a morale booster for both residents and staff.

Emanu-El's Rabbi Mark Kaiserman praised the project as one that gives Jews a chance to "both fulfill the mitzvah to help fix the world, while also supporting our Christian friends and community workers so they can spend this holiday with their families."

It's wonderful, he said, that "the Dallas Jewish community made volunteering a regular part of our actions on Dec. 25, and we hope it leads to regular acts of social justice all year long."

Facilities that this year need assistance from volunteers are Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Doctors Hospital Dallas, Edgemere Retirement Community, Golden Acres - Dallas Home for Jewish Aged, Medical Center of Plano, Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Richardson Regional, Veterans Administration Hospital, VNA Meals on Wheels with 15 routes and more than 100 meals to deliver, and the YMCA Casa Shelter.

"Christmas isn't our holiday, and it's a good feeling to share and give back to others," said Shaw. "I feel good doing it and that's really what it's all about."


This story was published in the DallasJewishWeek
on: Thursday, December 18, 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Copyright 2004, Dallas Jewish Week