Jewish Volunteer Connection to Host Annual 'Community Mitzvah Day' on Dec. 24-25

Now in its 17th year, Jewish Volunteer Connection’s annual “Community Mitzvah Day” event on Saturday night, Dec. 24, and Sunday, Dec. 25, will provide service project opportunities to help an estimated 4,000 residents of the greater Baltimore metropolitan area.

JVC is a program of the Macks Center for Jewish Connections of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore. Jmore is a co-sponsor of “Mitzvah Day.”

The day’s signature site will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 25 at Pikesville’s Chizuk Amuno Congregation, 8100 Stevenson Rd., where volunteers will assemble approximately 2,200 winter care packages, prepare hundreds of bagged meals, and participate in other mitzvah projects for individuals and families of all ages and abilities.

Volunteers can also participate in “Mitzvah Day” by picking up project options (while they last) at the Park Heights Jewish Community Center, 5700 Park Heights Ave. The project options include no-sew fleece blankets to keep people warm this winter and “gratitude cards” to be distributed to people in one’s life who deserve a hearty thank-you.

Among the in-person volunteering opportunities for “Mitzvah Day” are assisting with arts and crafts projects, games and sing-alongs at the Ronald McDonald House in East Baltimore; serving meals at My Sister’s Place Women’s Center, a day resource center for women and children in Baltimore; assisting with holiday lunches and entertainment at Innterim House., a short-term, transitional shelter for families experiencing homelessness in Baltimore County; and serving Christmas meals at the Hannah More Family Shelter in Reisterstown.

In addition, post-“Mitzvah Day” volunteers will be needed to deliver donations to JVC’s nonprofit and school partners.

“Mitzvah Day is our annual volunteer event that brings volunteers together to meet needs of our nonprofit partners during the Christmas holiday,” said Addie Lewis Klein, executive director of the Macks Center for Jewish Connections. “We’re thrilled to bring back our in-person signature site, which is a meaningful and fun day for community members to connect with each other while helping prepare thousands of winter care packages, hundreds of bagged meals, and other donations for those being supported by our nonprofit partners. … We are grateful to all the volunteers who make this day a success — our planning committee, the knitters, the volunteer drivers, and the hundreds of community members who will join us on December 25 to prepare the care packages. Come join us!”

For information, visit jvcbaltimore.org/annualevents/mitzvah-day.