JCC at Mitzvah Day UK

On 16 November Mitzvah Day UK will take place all over the country and the JCC, as a founding partner, is looking forward to being part of it.

Mitzvah Day is a day of good deeds where you can come and make a difference in a real and tangible way. All you have to do is have a look at the volunteering opportunities, pick one that suits you (and your friends and family) and come along on the day. Whether you’re old or young, want to do something on your ownor with a friend, there’s something here for you.

Have a look, pick a project and make a difference. It’s as easy as a click on the computer or picking up the phone. You’ll have a great day and have helped someone too.

It’s easy, it’s fun and we’d love you to be part of it.

The JCC’s MitzvahDay is in partnership with Mitzvah Day UK

www.mitzvahday.org.uk

How can you make a difference on Mitzvah Day
Volunteer Projects

WELCOME PACKS
In conjunction with the Separated Child Foundation, we will be creating welcome packs for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who arrive on the shores of Britain without any basic essentials. Come and help Darfuri refugees and volunteers from the Association of Jewish Refugees pack up toiletries and other necessities to send to these children.

CHANGING ROOMS: THE SCHOOL
Based in Hampstead, Holy Trinity Primary School educates over 180 children from a variety of different backgrounds including30% refugee and asylum seeking children. The JCC will be painting a mural in the school’s playground. Come along if you don’t mind getting a bit dirty! Ages 13+

QUILT & KVETCH
The conflict in Darfur has entered its 5thyear. With 300,000 people dead, 2.5 million displaced and 4 million people reliant on the international community to feed them, the situation remains dire for the people on the ground. Join the Act for Darfur team in creating your square for the ever growing protest quilt whose size is a visual measure of public concern and solidarity.

STITCH & KVETCH
Knitting a hat for a newborn baby can help save its life. Join our team of avid knitters in making baby hats, and we’ll send them to Save the Children who will makesure they reach mothers and babies in developing countries that desperately need them. We’ll be using a simple pattern but some knitting ability is essential.

TAY-SACHS SCREENING
Tay-Sachs is an inherited genetic disease that affects young children. It develops when a child inherits two copies of the Tay-Sachs gene - one from each parent. The JCC and Jewish Care are proud to offer a screening test on Mitzvah Day to ensure that this fatal illness does not strike babies and their families. Ages 16+

TZEDEK’S ART ATTACK “TREASURE FROM TRASH”
Join Tzedek in helping our community to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink by taking part in our family friendly art activities. Grownups - reduce your plastic bag usage by making our special recycled wine bags. Younger participants can get involved too and we have a whole host of recycled art activities to excite and inspire you.

TOY SWAP
Bored of your old toys? Bring two you no longer need (only those new or in good condition please!), take one that someone else has donated, and package the leftovers up in boxes that you can decorate and personalise for delivery. Toys will be distributed to the New North London Synagogue asylum-seeker drop-in and St Mary Magdalene Refugee Centre. This project is suitable for children.

JCC PACKATHON
We will need volunteers to sort out the food, clothing, toys and stationery that have been donated, into boxes for delivery. Please lend
a hand if you have a couple of hours to spare.

Educational Workshops

SAY THAT AGAIN
You’re sitting around the Friday night dinner table and everyone’s talking at once. Grandma keeps asking you to repeat yourself and you’re getting more and more frustrated. In this session, you will learn how to cope with members of your family who may be losing their hearing –whether they are your parents, grandparents or partners. Time: 2-3.30pm.

KIDS ALOUD
Imagine trying to buy a bus ticket and not being able to hear what the driver is saying to you. In this session, you will have the opportunity to experience first-hand what it feels like not to be able to hear properly and understand how to communicate in the right way. If you haven’t already learnt how to fingerspell, this could be your chance!
Suitable for 8-11 year olds. Time: 4-5.30pm.

Both these sessions will be run by deaf people, courtesy of the Jewish Deaf Association.

JCC GLOBAL VILLAGE IN CONJUCTION WITH TZEDEK
Does aid really work or does it just make us feel better? The West has provided the developing world with over $2 trillion in aid the last 50 years, and private charities billions more. But with millions of people still going hungry and stories of corruption still making the news, we can rightly ask is aid really working, are we learning from our mistakes and can aid really make poverty history? Gideon Rabinowitz, a Policy Analyst from Indian-headquartered development charity CUTS International and previously Action Aid UK, will facilitate this discussion with insights from his work and current debates on aid. Time: 2-3pm.

JCC THE SAFE SPACE IN CONJUNCTION WITH JCORE
How has one of the richest countries on the planet ended up with up to250,000 failed asylum seekers living in abject poverty on its streets, unable or too scared to return home? In this Safe Space we will explore how people who have fled the most traumatic situations in the world often end up in the UK without even the most basic necessities in life. Time: 3-4pm.

Buy these related books:
A Place of Refuge: A Positive Approach to Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the UK (Mission & Public Affairs Counc)
Spreading the Burden?: A Review of Policies to Disperse Asylum-seekers and Refugees by Vaughan Robinson, Roger Andersson, and Sako Musterd (Paperback - 30 Jul 2003)

JCC DARFUR
Where is Darfur and why do we care about it so much? 5 years into the conflict with 300,000 people dead, 2.5million displaced and 4 million people reliant on the international community to feed them, the situation remains dire for the people on the ground. Find out what has caused this situation, why we think it’s our responsibility as Jews to care and what you can do to help. Time: 4-5pm.

Other things

DONATIONS
Volunteers on all projects are invited to bring  the following items to Hampstead Town Hall on the day. Even if you don’t have the time to volunteer on the day, please drop by with the items below if you can:
• Sugar • Oil • Tinned tomatoes • Cornflakes • Fair Trade tea • Tuna • Sweetcorn • Biscuits • Rice • Pasta • Tinned fruit • Pasta sauces • Stationery• Toiletries • Nappies • Rucksacks/Backpacks • Tins or packets of beans (e.g. butter beans, kidney beans) • Small gifts in the region of £2-5 to be given as Christmas presents (e.g. notebooks, writing paper) • 2nd hand clothing(only clothes in good condition please) • Wallets/purses

DO YOU HAVE A CAR AND AN HOUR TO SPARE?
We are looking for drivers to transport the donated items to their final destination at the end of the day. Please call the JCC office if you can help.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEAD A VOLUNTEER TEAM ON ANY OFTHE MITZVAH DAY PROJECTS?
Please call the JCC office to register as a project coordinator.