In its commitment to tzedakah, mitzvah, and
tikkun olam, the Kehillah is involved in a
variety of social action endeavors. The OCOC
is one of our newer initiatives and one to
which we are committing our volunteer
efforts and financial support. Just this
year, the
national organization Jewish Fund for
Justice awarded the Kehillah a $2,500 grant
to recognize and support this important
tikkun olam work.
Click here for an on-line
news
article
and video!
~
Upcoming Events ~
A SPECIAL FUNDRAISER FOR THE PEOPLE OF
DARFUR. Saturday, July 11, 2009.
7 to 10 p.m. 500 Churton Grove Blvd,
Hillsborough, NC. $50.00 (tax deductible
receipt provided).
Guest Speakers: Melanie Teff, Advocate,
Refugees International; Oie Osterkamp,
author of Being a Sharefish in a Selfish
World.
Info: Jennifer Lazinsk: 919-241-4543 or
Karen Kuhn 919-306-2659.
Enjoy
Ethiopian cuisine, live music, a wine
tasting, and, gourmet chocolate.
Please RSVP by June 25. SPACE LIMITED!
*All
proceeds will be directed to those displaced
in Sudan via REFUGEE’S INTERNATIONAL.
Donations will be acknowledged with a tax
deductible receipt.
The IFC desperately needs two
volunteer drivers who can pick-up donated food from Rams
Head Dining Hall on Friday
afternoons at 3 pm. You may use an IFC panel truck, but you will need to have a
valid North Carolina driver's license. If you are interested, please contact
either Karen or Donna at the following numbers.
Carr, Karen, Volunteer Coordinator, 929.6380.ext.30,
volunteer@ifcmailbox.org
Bradley, Donna, Kitchen Coordinator, 967.0643.ext.15, 357-4875,
kitchen@ifcmailbox.org
~
Ongoing Activities ~

Inter-Faith Council (IFC).
Please bring your food donations to the Chapel.
List of most-needed items.
IFC community
kitchen lunch. 1st Tues. of every month. Contact
Irma.
IFC Volunteers Needed.
Training provided. Lots of opportunities--click
here for the list or call IFC, 929-6380.
~
Burmese Refugees ~
You
shall love the stranger as yourself for you were once strangers in the land of
Egypt (Lev. 19:34).
The Kehillah is
co-sponsoring a refugee family from Burma. For the most part, refugees from
Burma have lived in refugee camps in Thailand where they have endured
malnutrition, inadequate housing, poor sanitation, limited medical care,
insufficient education, and physical confinement. The political situation in
their native country makes it impossible for them to return home, and conditions
in the camps offer them no hope for the future. Many of these families have
resettled in this area. The Kehillah has adopted one of these families and has
organized a team of volunteers to help them with finding a job, learning
English, navigating the bus system, setting up their apartment, teaching the
children how to swim, and many other such activities.
~
Orange County
Organizing Committee ~

The Chapel Hill Kehillah is a founding
member of the this grass-roots committee,
which advocates for social and economic
justice in our local community. The OCOC is
an independent, non-partisan, non-profit
organization directed by leaders from
participating institutions and served by a
professional organizing staff. The OCOC is
affiliated with the Industrial Areas
Foundation (IAF), the oldest and largest
community- organizing network in the US.
After a two-year organizing process, 250
people, representing 23 institutions,
publicly launched the OCOC in April 2008.
The OCOC has
adopted the organization's first Agenda
for the Common Good, which focuses on
six priorities:
- Education
- Health Care
- Environmental Justice
|
- Living Wages
- Immigrant Families
- Affordable Housing
|
~
Building a Habitat
House
~
The Kehillah is
building a Habitat House with other local religious organizations this spring on
Feb. 8, Mar. 1, Mar. 15, Apr. 5, Apr. 26. Contact
Jon Mills, or
593-6365.
Co-sponsors
include: Muslim Student Association, Community Church, AEPi fraternity, NC
Hillel.
~
Homestart ~
Homestart's
mission is to provide a safe,
structured home for homeless women and
children, helping them access community
resources and offering them on-going support
to break the cycle of poverty and
homelessness.
Several times each year, Kehillah members
collect items for the shelter, including bed
linens, blankets, towels, umbrellas, and
toiletries.
~
IFC & the Food Bank ~
Continuously during the year, Kehillah
members bring food donations to the Kehillah
to be taken in bulk to the food bank at the
Inter-Faith Council for Social Services (IFC).
On Yom Kippur, all families are asked to
bring food donations, and several truck
loads of donated food go to feed the hungry
in our community. Also, monthly, Kehillah
members sponsor (cook and serve) a lunch at
the IFC Community kitchen.
~
Tzedakah ~
We are
committed to tzedakah to help those in need.
Before each UNC men's basketball home game,
Kehillah members collect money for parking
in the Kehillah lot. All of the funds
collected are donated to local
organizations.
~
CROP
(Community Reaching
Out to People)
Walk ~
Each year, we participates in the CROP Walk,
which is an event that supports local and
national hunger relief. We contribute
financially, raise additional money from
community-members, and participate in the
almost 4 mile walk.
~
Community Dinner ~
Each year, we participate in the Community
Dinner. This community-building event brings
people from all walks of life together for
an afternoon of ethnically-diverse food and
entertainment. Kehillah members make large
kugels for the event, and many attend the
dinner.
~
Recycling ~
We are committed to recycling as a way to
help take care of our environment. We
recycle paper, cardboard, printer
cartridges, yogurt cups, and plastic and
glass bottles.
~
Religious School Mitzvah
Day ~

See Religious School
programs.
~
Kehillah Mitzvah
Day ~
We periodically host a Kehillah Mitzvah Day
to provide an opportunity for families to
participate in various mitzvah projects,
including cleaning a recycling center (Ba’al Tashchit—Do Not
Destroy); cooking meals to be frozen and then delivered to
those who are sick (Rofay Cholim—Healing the Sick); tying
ribbons and collating a mailing for the Family Violence
Prevention Center (Shmirat Ha’Guf—Caring for the Body);
pulling weeds from the Kehillah gardens (Malachah--Industriousness);
making cards and art work for those who are sick (Bikkur
Cholim—Visiting the Sick); visiting an assisted living
facility (Kibud Zekaynim—Respecting the Elderly);
babysitting the children too young to participate (Chesed--Lovingkindness);
and collating donations to a relief
effort (Tzedakah—Righteousness).