Local News

MLK Service With Many Smiles

The first Community Mitzvah Day to honor Martin Luther King Jr. draws about 800 people to service projects.

By Atlanta Jewish Times January 16, 2018, 4:07 pm Edit

Joanna Estroff from The Packaged Good welcomes volunteers interested in packing care bags of toiletries.
The mess is part of the fun for some volunteers making cards and picture frames for JF&CS clients.
The Atlanta Rescue Dog Cafe leash-making station proves popular and provides fun for children helping repurpose old climbing ropes.
Children’s definitions of tikkun olam range from “doing for others” to “don’t litter.”
The finished dog leashes include personalized tags.
PJ Library’s Nathan Brodsky provides guidance at one of the card-making tables.
One young volunteer shows off the card she created.
Cory Beagal from the Sandy Springs Police Department discusses how children should respond to stranger danger.
ALEF Fund manager Jared Novoseller checks in a volunteer at B'nai Torah.

In the City Camp founder and CEO Eileen Snow Price said she wanted to do service projects with her children on Martin Luther King Jr. Day each year, but nothing age-appropriate was available. So this year she launched Community Mitzvah Day on King Day with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Jewish Family & Career Services, the Marcus JCC, Ramah Darom, The Packaged Good and other partners.

The biggest site for projects from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, was Congregation B’nai Torah, where about 350 people made leashes and chew toys for dogs, cards and photo frames for JF&CS clients, paper flowers for Holocaust survivors, cards for community members and Israeli soldiers, and bookmarks for seniors. They also packed care packages of toiletries for homeless people, got to know two Sandy Springs police officers, and had the opportunity to discuss year-round service opportunities and learn about PJ Library.

The adults could donate blood at a Red Cross bloodmobile in the parking lot.

Other sites provided service projects for roughly 450 additional people.

Photos by Michael Jacobs

: Joanna Estroff from The Packaged Good welcomes volunteers interested in packing care bags of toiletries.

: The mess is part of the fun for some volunteers making cards and picture frames for JF&CS clients.

: The Atlanta Rescue Dog Cafe leash-making station proves popular and provides fun for children helping repurpose old climbing ropes.

: Children’s definitions of tikkun olam range from “doing for others” to “don’t litter.”

: The finished dog leashes include personalized tags.

: PJ Library’s Nathan Brodsky provides guidance at one of the card-making tables.

: One young volunteer shows off the card she created.

: Cory Beagal from the Sandy Springs Police Department discusses how children should respond to stranger danger.

: ALEF Fund manager Jared Novoseller checks in a volunteer at B’nai Torah.

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