Members of Baltimore’s Jewish community joined with people from more than 110 countries to do good for others. Jewish Volunteer Connection was just one of many community organizations across the globe that organized volunteer-based programming for Good Deeds Day, an event they have been participating in for more than 10 years.
Started in 2007 by Israeli philanthropist Shari Arison, Good Deeds Day grew from an event with 7,000 participants in Israel to an international day of service that saw nearly 4 million participants in 2022. Every year on a day in April, with this year’s event taking place on Sunday, April 16, participants engage in community service focused on helping the environment, unhoused and low-income individuals and other social causes.
“We’re just the Baltimore convener for Good Deeds Day, but there are people doing good all over the world,” said Alli Berger, a senior associate at the Macks Center for Jewish Connections. Berger works with Jodi Teitelman, JVC’s program associate for days of service, to plan community aid-based events. “We’re excited to bring that international event to our area.”
JVC collaborated with Baltimore-area nonprofits and other local Jewish groups to offer a variety of different service opportunities for Good Deeds Day. Some of these events included clean-ups at the Baltimore Humane Society and Bowleys Lane Cemeteries, serving dinner to women in need at My Sister’s Place Women’s Center, and collecting books to donate to the Maryland Book Bank and Correctional Libraries for inmates, among other activities.
Local synagogues like Bolton Street Synagogue and Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation also took part, as well as BBYO’s Baltimore Council, which held one of their J-Serve events to combat food insecurity.
But for one group of do-gooders in the Baltimore area, Good Deeds Day was also a celebration of their achievements over the past few years. The Bunches of Lunches initiative celebrated its third birthday at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom by assembling 400 lunch bags to donate to those in need, providing food-insecure individuals with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, trail mix and fresh fruit. Over 50 people RSVPed to the event, with more attending.
Bunches of Lunches was started in April of 2020 to provide lunches during the COVID-19 pandemic to people who normally depended on their job or school for food. While initially temporary, the program’s overwhelming popularity led to it continuing far past its planned end.
“This was supposed to be a one-time community event,” explained Nancy Rosenberg, chair of JVC’s Good Deeds Day 2023 programming. “But after collecting 1,800 meals in one day, we decided to continue the project. … We have now donated over 200,000 meals to community members in need.”
Event volunteers made sandwiches, assembled lunches and decorated lunch bags with cheerful images and vibrant patterns. Many remarked on the ease of participating in Bunches of Lunches at home, taking some time out of their week to put together lunches for donation.
Terry Wilner, who spoke at the event’s Q&A panel with several other frequent volunteers, holds monthly collections of Bunches of Lunches bags at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom.
“This is such an easy, low-barrier program that makes generational help happen,” Wilner said. “We have retirees who volunteer, and we have a religious school program where our students make Bunches of Lunches bags once a month.”
Other participants on the panel were Duane Alexander, whose mother owns and founded Alexander & Alexander Youth Services, which is a weekly recipient of Bunches of Lunches; and Robin and Jason Katcoff, who make lunches every week with their daughters to be donated.
“It’s not just the food, but the energy that goes into it … the cultures working together, regardless of their religion or background,” Alexander said. “The love that we put into these lunches is the love people receive when they open them.”
Many other attendees of JVC’s Good Deeds Day events have been frequent participants in the organization’s service-based activities. Cindy Zonies, who calls herself a “super volunteer,” says she has been participating in JVC’s days of service for many years.
“I just think [JVC] is one of the best organizations in the area,” she said. “It’s my favorite part of The Associated.”
Though Good Deeds Day has drawn to a close, JVC will still continue organizing community events throughout the year, with Bunches of Lunches being just one of their many ways volunteers can get involved with helping the people and the world around them.
“No matter if people want to do things on their own or attend a community event, we always welcome people to do good in our community,” Berger said.
