TAE Social Action
Making a Difference Together
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Highlights of this Month's Email - (Scroll for Details)
Relay for Life - Team TAE Fighting Cancer - Sign Up Now
to Walk for 15 minutes - 24 hours or Donate to Support the Team
May 18 - 19
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Spring Food Drive for Harbor House
Now - May 19
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Social Action Meeting
May 14
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Social Action Leaders Needed
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Become a Mentor for At Risk Families and Individuals
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Conejo Valley Meals for the Homeless - Sign Ups Available
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Collecting Bubbles
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Helping Jewish Homeless Sisters
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Open House at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
May 19
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Volunteer Opportunities in the Community
Thousand OaksTree Planting, Agoura Hills Service Day,
Mother's Day at the Jewish Home,
Manna Postal Carrier Food Drive, Big Sunday
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Visit
www.AdatElohim.org/socialaction
to learn about TAE social action opportunities. The information changes regularly, so please check back often! We have great events planned - Join us!
Marcia & Harold Gordon - Social Action Co-Chairs
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Social Action Committee Meeting
The next Social Action Committee meeting will be
Tuesday, May 14, 7 pm
Room 6
All members are invited to join us to learn more about TAE social action, bring new ideas, help plan upcoming events and get involved.
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Upcoming Projects & Opportunities
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Relay for Life - Help Defeat Cancer!
Join TAE's 2nd Annual Relay for Life
team to fight Cancer.
Walk with us or support us with a donation!
May 18, 9 am - May 19, 9 am
Conejo Creek Park South -
1300 E Janss Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
- Team meeting for walkers will be May 6.
- For a $10 donation, purchase a Luminaria to light a candle in honor or memory of a friend or loved one who has had cancer, or in support of a caregiver. They will be displayed during the relay.
- You can walk as long as you would like - 5 minutes to 24 hour or come and hang out in our booth.
- Contact team co-captains: Jacob and Cathy Warner dcss4@msn.com for more information.
- Be part of our TAE team...come with friends....make new friends....help fund a cure!
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Harbor House Food Drive
Serving Conejo Valley Homeless and
Low Income Families
Now - May 19
Harbor House is a Conejo Valley non-profit that provides services to our homeless and low-income families. They have a food pantry that needs stocking to help meet the needs of these vulnerable populations.
Please leave your donations in the box in the temple office any time from now - 5/19. Coming to any of these events? Bring your items with you.
- Annual Meeting - May 19
- Religious School or ECC - April 26 – May 19
For this food drive, we are collecting specific items. Each of the following groups are asked to bring these items:
- Sisterhood - Peanut butter
- Brotherhood - Jelly
- Adult/Senior Group - Cheese & Crackers (non perishable - individual packets)
- Religious School:
- Kindergarten - Hearty Soup
- 1st grade - Cereal
- 2nd grade - Canned Pasta
- 3rd grade - Canned Fruit
- 4th grade - Granola Bars
- 5th grade - Tuna
- 6th grade - Ramen
- 7th - 12th grades - Cheese and Crackers (non perishable - individual packets)
- ECC - Water bottles
If you are not in one of the above groups – bring whatever you would like!
A huge thank you to Asher and Marcy Duben for promoting the food drive in all religious school classes!
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Conejo Valley Meal Program
The 4th Wednesday of every month at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
On the 4th Wednesday of every month at Westminster Presbyterian Church, TAE members are caring for our homeless community by bringing and serving dinner. Please help! If you would like to sign up to help prepare a meal, send an email to
TAEshelter@yahoo.com
and one of the Shelter Team members will get back to you.
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Open House at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Temple Adat Elohim is very active in the interfaith community. We have visited the local Islamic Center in the past to meet our neighbors and learn about their beliefs. Now, our friends at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are inviting members of the community to an Open House where you will be able to learn about their beliefs, tour their campus and ask questions.
Sunday, May 19 3pm - 6pm
Thousand Oaks Stake Center
1600 Erbes Rd, Thousand Oaks
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Big Sunday
Big Sunday is a wonderful organization that coordinates service projects throughout Los Angeles all year long. They previously held a one day Mitzvah Day called Big Sunday. Now they have expanded it to the entire month of May. If you would like to volunteer for one of their projects, sign up at:
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Be a Mentor for At-Risk Families and Individuals.
Conejo Valley Mentoring Program (CVMP)
This new Conejo Valley program will connect local at-risk families and individuals with mentors who will assist them in finding resources to navigate daily issues including housing, food, and health. Mentors will be a stable influence who connect mentees with available resources and professionals.
We are looking for Conejo Valley adults who would like to establish a mentoring relationship with at-risk families/individuals.
Role of the Mentor:
- Be a listener
- Help the mentee develop life skills
- Be a role model
- Be a friend
- Provide informational resources to connect mentees with available professionals related to housing, food, and health. (The CVMP will share these resources with you so that you can provide them to those you mentor.)
The Mentor is not:
- Responsible for the actions of the mentee
- Providing financial or other direct support
- A fixer of all challenges of life circumstances
- The Mentees therapist or doctor
Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen and a push in the right direction.
-
John Crosby
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
-Maya Angelou
If you are interesting in learning more about the new Conejo Valley Mentoring Program, which is scheduled to begin this summer, contact
socialaction@adatelohim.com.
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Manna - Postal Carriers Food Drive
Food and Help Needed
Saturday, May 11 2pm - 6pm - Agoura Post Office
On Saturday, May 11, leave a bag of food by your mailbox by 9am. Your letter carrier will take the bag and all donations will be given to the Manna Conejo Food Bank. If you’d like to help Manna receive all this food, please contact them via email at
info@mannaconejo.org
. They will need lots of help at the Agoura Hills post office from 2:00pm to 6:00pm off-loading and transporting the food back to Manna.
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Volunteers needed at the Jewish Home in Reseda on Mother’s Day
At the Los Angeles Jewish Home in Reseda volunteers are needed to help with a Mother's Day event. Volunteers are needed from 9am to noon on Sunday, May 12
th
to hand out popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, photo returns, and interact with residents. Children 3
rd
grade and older are welcome with a parent. Volunteers must sign up in advance. If you are interested, contact Stacy Orbach, Community Volunteer Coordinator (818) 757-4442 or
stacy.orbach@jha.org
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Message from Rabbi Diamond:
Over the past few months, two Jewish women, Michele and Melanie Morgan, have been staying in our Winter Shelter. They are concert violinists who are gentle and kind. You can see them on the two YouTube videos below as well as listen to samples of one of their albums which can be found on Amazon. They have severe diet restrictions, and manage their food independently.
Through a long series of events, they do not have a home, and with the Winter Shelter ending, they are in need of shelter.
Please let me know right away if you know of anyone who has one of the following:
- A room in which the two sisters can stay (Thanks to a TAE volunteer, they currently have shelter until mid-May).
- A car which the sisters can use
- Interest in Mentoring the sisters as they relaunch their music career and establish other ways to support themselves.
We have obtained violins for them so they can relaunch their music careers. There are times we can make a difference in the lives of our community. This is one of those times.
Time is of the essence, please feel free to contact Rabbi Diamond as soon as possible at 805-497-7101 or bdiamond@adatelohim.com if you can help.
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Social Action Leaders Needed
TAE has a rich tradition of social action. We have many wonderful projects that benefit both the recipients and the volunteers. These events take planning and organization. We invite you to explore these opportunities and find a fun and engaging way to get involved in planning one or a number of different events throughout the year. Presently we have a specific need for individuals to help with the planning for Mitzvah Day (11/3/19). Please contact Marcia or Harold Gordon at
socialaction@adatelohim.com
with questions or to express interest..
Mitzvah Day projects
Currently we have begun planning for Mitzvah Day 2019. Last year, we offered over 20 different projects, benefiting many different charities. If you have a charity that you volunteer with for which you feel we could do a project at TAE during Mitzvah Day – please share the information with Marcia Gordon at
socialaction@adatelohim.com.
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Caring Community of TAE needs your help!
Our Caring Community is dedicated to reaching out to those in our TAE community who are in need.
Do you have some time to make a few phone calls to people who are in need to let them know that their TAE family is thinking of them? Do you have time to visit people who are in need of some company while they are ill? If you can help, please contact Cantor David at
dshukiar@adatelohim.com
(805) 497-7101. Please also contact Cantor David if you know someone in need.
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Community Volunteer Opportunities
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City of Thousand Oaks Annual Tree Planting
Saturday, May 4 8am - 11:30am
Planting will take place on South Moorpark Rd. between Los Padres Dr. and Greenmeadow Ave. Parking is available in the Conejo Players parking lot or along Greenmeadow Ave. We will be working together to plant about 30 trees.
What to bring: shovels, water, battery operated blowers, outdoor brooms, work boots, gloves, post pounders, box cutting knife, safety glasses, hammers
Sign in stations will be set up at Los Padres and Greenmeadow Ave. Please report to one of these stations first to sign a waiver.
Agoura Hills Community Service Day 2019
Saturday, May 4 8:30am - Noon
Meet at Morrison Park (29909 Forest Cove Lane, Agoura Hills) at 8:30 a.m. to check in and receive your free 2019 Community Service Day t-shirt!
All participants are required to sign a waiver before volunteering. Please note: for those under 18 years old, a parental signature will be required on the waiver to participate. Please wear appropriate clothes as they may get ruined or stained, also it is vital that you wear tennis shoes. It is recommended that you wear sunscreen and bring water. This is not a pet friendly activity! Please leave your furry friends at home.
For more information and to sign up click here:
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Collecting Small Bottles of Bubbles
During the school year, 50% of Ventura County children receive a free or reduced lunch at school. This program does not continue during the summer. Help these children receive a meal during the summer.
St. Jude’s Catholic Church is leading the local interfaith community in collecting lunch items and small toys. TAE will be providing small bubble bottles.
- Bring small bottles of bubbles to the TAE office 5/1-5/18
- Join us to count the items and assemble the lunch bags at St. Jude’s (32032 Lindero Canyon Rd, Westlake Village 91361) on:
Monday, May 20 at 9am to count/sort the donated items
Tuesday, June 11 at 9am to assemble the lunches.
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Food Collection for Harbor House
The yellow bin in the sanctuary foyer is always available to receive your donations of food items. Make it a habit to bring something to donate each time you come to temple. Leave temple knowing that you made a difference in someone's life.
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We will be collecting the following items for Harbor House until 5/19. After 5/19, all items are welcome and will be donated to Manna.
- PEANUT BUTTER
- GRANOLA BARS
- JELLY
- CHEESE & CRACKERS
- HEARTY SOUP
- TUNA
- CEREAL
- MICROWAVE CUPS - MAC & CHEESE
- CANNED PASTA
- RAMEN
- CANNED FRUIT
- WATER
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Spring Blood Drive Helped Save Lives
Thank you to Joyce Bloom for continuing to be the driving force behind our semi-annual blood drives. Thank you also to all of our TAE (and Temple Etz Chaim) donors who gave a little of their time and bodies to truly make a difference in the world. We collected 91+ pints of blood.
The next blood drive is November 3.
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On Sunday, April 28th, we were very proud to host the community for a production of Homeward LA - Stories from the Homeless
What a wonderful evening! We had a full house! Homeward LA, a citywide event from April 26-May 5 is a series of monologues based on stories from people who have experienced homelessness. During this 10 day period there are over 70 performances of Homeward LA and ours was the only one in the Conejo Valley. In addition to raising awareness of the Homeless crisis, we raised $5316.31 for the Midnight Mission, a nonprofit organization committed to ending homelessness, and Harbor House, a nonprofit organization supporting the homeless in the Conejo Valley.
A huge thank you to our director Leasa Shukiar and to Cantor David Shukiar for the wonderful musical arrangements. We heard a presentation from Harbor House Executive Director Denise Cortes and participated in an action fair featuring a service project for Hope Mill as well as information from other groups serving the Conejo Valley homeless community.
The outstanding cast included Sandy Berger, Lisa Bock, David Buss, George Daisa, John Faucher, Nancy Federman, Miriam Goodman, Karen Guetschoff, Donna Schwartz, Parry Shen, Geri Wissot and musicians Penny Greenblatt, Eric Leicht, Allison Lipman, Bob Mills, Ron Rothman and David Shukiar.
The organizations participating in the action fair included: Food Forward, Harbor House, Hope Mill, Interface Children and Family Services, Many Mansions, RAIN project, School on Wheels, United Way and the Ventura County Office of Education.
If you did not get a chance to see our production, you can still see the show until May 5th at other locations. Visit homewardla.org to see the list and get tickets.
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On Sunday April 7 - TAE members Walked to End Genocide
Thank you to Marilyn Novak for once again leading TEAM TAE Pacers at the Walk to End Genocide. TAE raised $1571 for Jewish World Watch. The Jewish World Watch Conejo Valley Walk to End Genocide is a community event that brings together advocates of all ages and backgrounds in one united voice to say "We will not stand idly by while genocide and mass atrocities occur."
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On-Going Projects & Opportunities
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Tzedakah Box
Donations to the Tzedakah Box will be donated to the TAE disaster fund. Our Tzedakah box is located in the foyer right outside the door to the sanctuary. Please help us help others
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This monthly Social Action e-newsletter is sent from the Social Action committee at the beginning of each month. It includes upcoming social action opportunities that are available to the TAE community. We invite all TAE members to find your place in TAE Social Action. We hope that you will find a project (or many!) that touches your heart. We encourage you to participate and bring your temple friends with you! There is something for everyone.
If you have charities or projects that you support, please share them with us at
socialaction@adatelohim.com
. We might be able to involve others in a project that is important to you!
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