Temple Beth El Blog

Do you have some time to give? We have lots of great opportunities to help out in our community.

Help Provide Weekend Food for Thoreau Elementary Families
Temple Beth El has joined with other neighboring congregations and organizations to provide children at Thoreau Elementary School with food to take home over the weekend. Currently about 45 percent of Thoreau children qualify for free or reduced school lunches and may be without adequate food on weekends. Volunteers are needed to pack and distribute bags for 50 children with food from the River Food Pantry. Two to four volunteers are needed for a day or two each week during March and April.

We are looking for help packing and distributing food to students on these dates: March 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, and 27, and April 9 and 10. You may work any or all of these days. Packing takes place at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Nakoma Road (usually on Thursday afternoon) and distribution is at 9:00 am at Thoreau Elementary School (usually on Friday morning).

Please contact Vic Levy if you are interested in participating in this activity. The first step for anyone interested in volunteering will be to sign up as a volunteer with the Madison Metropolitan School District (go to the MMSD volunteer website). This will activate a background check to enter Thoreau Elementary to distribute the food. Note: There is some delay in MMSD volunteer approval, so please visit their website now if you wish to help in March. If you are already approved to volunteer at any Madison Public School for this year, please revise your Volunteer Tracker profile to include food pantry assistant at Thoreau.

Serving Meals at the Catholic Multicultural Center Is Fun and Easy
Looking for a fun, easy opportunity to help the community and spend quality time as a team? Help serve the daily meal at the Catholic Multicultural Center! The Catholic Multicultural Center provides free meals every day to low-income community members and people experiencing homelessness. Volunteers set out and serve the food and clean up after the meal; you’re busy the whole time and on your feet. Temple Beth El has agreed to serve on the second Monday of each month. Sign up here or contact Sue Levy.

Porchlight Men's Shelter Still Needs a Few People for January 29
Our next Porchlight meal is Wednesday, January 29. Each time we serve a meal (four or five times a year), we need shoppers, cooks, cookie bakers, kitchen minders, delivery people, and servers. This is a fun way to get to know your fellow volunteers! Sign up here. 

Learn about Porchlight at here.

Healing House Meals Needed in Early February
Our next week to help at Healing House is February 9–15. Healing House, a program of Madison-area Urban Ministry, gives people without homes a place to recover after receiving medical care. This eight-bed facility at 303 Lathrop Street provides 24/7 recuperative care by medically trained staff and volunteers for up to 28 days. Volunteers are asked to assist by cooking and dropping off meals or by serving and cleaning up after dinner at the house. To help with this mitzvah, please sign up here.

Looking for Volunteers with Public Relations and Fundraising Experience
Temple Beth El is a member of the Dane Sanctuary Coalition, joining with other congregations and organizations to support immigrants in our community. The coalition is starting a project to raise awareness and to fundraise for its Immigrant Assistance Fund. This fund pays for legal services, emergency aid, bail, travel costs, and other aid for undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Dane County.

Dane Sanctuary Coalition is looking for volunteers with public relations and/or fundraising experience to be part of a small committee to work with the Immigration Collaborative and move this effort forward. For more information, and to volunteer, please contact Rabbi Bonnie Margulis. You can read more about the fund here.

Volunteer Drivers Needed for Dane County Sanctuary Coalition
Are you looking for a great way to help immigrants deal with the legal system? Consider volunteering as a driver to give rides to Immigration Court in Chicago or US Citizenship and Immigration Services check-ins in Milwaukee. Immigration attorneys and their clients have been deeply appreciative about the assistance this service provides, and our drivers report how fulfilling it has been to them personally.

Requirements to be a volunteer driver are a valid driver’s license, up-to-date car insurance, attendance at a driver training session, US citizenship, and some availability during the work week. If you’re interested, come to the next training on Wednesday, January 22, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive. Please RSVP to Dorit Bergen if you plan to attend.

Attention Attorneys
HIAS, a national immigration and refugee aid organization, is recruiting attorneys to volunteer at the border in February or March. As you know, asylum seekers are not provided with lawyers, and only a fraction are able to secure legal representation. Thus this type of support is critical—even lifesaving. Attorneys do not need immigration experience. See below for the delegations scheduled in February and March. For more information, contact Rachel Zoghlin.

February 9–14, 2020: HIAS de Mexico (El Paso, Texas/Ciudad Juarez, Mexico)

February 24–28, 2020: JFS San Diego (San Diego, California)

March 22–28, 2020: HIAS de Mexico (El Paso, Texas/Ciudad Juarez, Mexico)

Help Recent Refugees as They Resettle in Our Community
Jewish Social Services provides case management, job help, and housing for newly arrived refugee families from a number of countries. Our volunteers work to set up their apartments with furniture and food. We also provide summer and after-school tutors for students from one family. To volunteer, contact Sherie Sondel.

Voter Education Ambassador Trainings Coming Up
Would you like to increase your role in civic engagement in 2020? To be trained to register voters in the city of Madison, see the Madison city clerk’s website here. On the site, you can sign up for training on various dates. Because each training is limited to 50 participants, you simply select the date you can attend (monthly Monday evenings between 5:00 and 6:30 at the clerk’s office in the City-County Building), and register.

The nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Dane County is looking for voter registration volunteers. Find out about upcoming events and opportunities for outreach by getting on the League’s email list. All you need to do is send a request to be added to their email list at office@lwvdanecounty.org.

For more information about voter registration efforts at TBE, contact Marcia Vandercook.