Making Connections
Your Monthly Update on Our Work and Impact
From Gail’s Desk
April 1, 2024
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Dear friends, 
 
Every time I arrive at our Waltham office, I’m greeted by the smiling faces of volunteers who show up to care for the community. The constant work of improving lives is important and meaningful, not to mention difficult—and having volunteers who are both dedicated and skilled is core to our ability to impact so many people efficiently. 

For so many of us, volunteering offers the chance to both live and transmit our values. Children who join their parents volunteering at Family Table often come back to us for their bar/bat mitzvah projects and later return as college students or young adults. We have volunteers who help nurture the earliest relationships—like the Lauren & Mark Rubin Visiting Mom who supported me two decades ago—and volunteers who provide comfort and companionship as people age.  

This Volunteer Appreciation Month, we honor the more than 2,300 individuals who generously contributed an astonishing 23,340 hours to helping our community in the last year. 

Please read on for some of the ways volunteers are making a difference at JF&CS and be in touch to find the right volunteer opportunity for you. And to all of our volunteers: thank you, thank you, thank you! 
Gail Schulman
Chief Executive Officer
Addressing food insecurity at Passover: There’s still time to sign up to help! 
David Shatz holding case of matzah in front of car loaded with matzah
Thousands of volunteers come together at JF&CS throughout the year to address food insecurity. At JF&CS Family Table, volunteers help provide nutritious food, Jewish holiday items, and a caring connection to more than 600 families each month. Family Table’s Passover distribution will include matzah, grape juice, and other items to help people observe the holiday.

Then there’s an additional distribution that’s different from all other distributions: Over just two days—April 17 and 18—we’re teaming up with CJP and other partners to provide neighbors in need with seder meals in a box. Last year volunteers delivered more than 3,000 Passover meals to people in our community!

Join the effort to deliver holiday meals to clients on the South Shore and Greater Boston. All volunteers age 18+ must be CORI approved. 
Nurturing community by sharing stories
Older adults in conversation at a table
Can you think of something as old as humankind, that anyone can do, and that’s been shown to be beneficial to our health and overall resilience? Hint: it’s not exercise, though that’s good for us too. It’s the simple yet powerful act of engaging with stories—sharing our own and listening to those told by others.

A pilot storytelling initiative with JF&CS’s Charlotte & Richard Okonow Parkinson’s Family Support program brings gifts of healing to those living with Parkinson’s Disease by recruiting volunteers to help them craft and share their stories. We're already hearing reports of real connections between volunteers and storytellers as they share life experiences: “We could have talked for hours!”
A virtuous cycle of volunteering: CHAI Works at Welcome Home
CHAI Works participant volunteering at Welcome Home
At JF&CS, we don’t only receive volunteer help, we also provide it to others. In fact, volunteering at local nonprofits is a core component of CHAI Works, our day program for adults with developmental disabilities. Like all volunteers, CHAI Works participants gain a sense of accomplishment and purpose, and they also develop job skills and build strong ties to the local community.

One of our community partners is Newton-based nonprofit Welcome Home, which provides donated home goods to people experiencing financial need or life transitions. Amid the constant flow of goods, staying tidy and organized is key—and that’s where CHAI Works participants come in. “We’re trying to get something done with labor, effort, intention,” said Welcome Home’s executive director, Julie Plaut Mahoney. “We rely on their help.”

Welcome Home has provided home goods to countless JF&CS clients, including those experiencing financial hardship brought on by the birth of a baby or chronic poverty. And JF&CS staff regularly share our expertise with Welcome Home’s volunteers, helping them better understand how scarcity impacts the clients we serve.
Find the right volunteer opportunity at JF&CS
Looking for a meaningful way to contribute to your community? JF&CS offers volunteer opportunities for people of all ages, abilities, and skillsets. Here are just some of the things you can do:

  • Provide nourishing food to our neighbors experiencing food insecurity  
  • Create a welcoming space for people experiencing memory changes and their companions  
  • Visit new parents at home to support them as they adjust to parenthood 
  • Share the joy of song or dance with people with Parkinson's and their care partners  
  • Have fun while serving as a role model to siblings of children with disabilities  
  • Offer companionship and connection to isolated older adults  
  • Share your skill or talent by teaching adults with developmental disabilities 
  • COMING SOON: Drive Holocaust survivors to appointments and on errands 
Child's hand holding matzah-shaped heart
Join us in caring for the community this Passover
Across our community, our neighbors face real challenges. Donate to JF&CS this Passover and you'll help provide a wide range of quality social services, all under one roof.
jfcsboston.org | 781-647-JFCS (5327)
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