Tag Archives: Help Others

Hurricane Harvey: Want to Help?

  You’ve seen the devastation and now it’s time to act.  What a powerful way to show our support to fellow citizens in a time of crisis. The Mitzvah Bowl scoured the internet to find credible resources for Hurricane Harvey donations.  Here are articles with key information and credible causes:  Forbes:  Where, What and How to Donate Contribute to support Hurricane Harvey evacuation housing at URJ Greene Family Camp. American Red Cross Donations of Food, Money and Blood are all sought. Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund What else can you do?  Organize and bake sale or lemonade stand and use the […]

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When is Mitzvah Day?

Mitzvah Day is an annual day of faith-based social action that takes place in November each year. On Mitzvah Day each year, community groups and individuals undertake a range of volunteer projects for those in need in their local community. Mitzvah Day is a wonderful opportunity for individuals and families to get involved and make a difference in our community. However, if you search around on the internet, you will find that mitzvah day falls on various dates throughout the U.S. and world. Some synagogues celebrate mitzvah day with a mitzvah fair, inviting representatives from organizations to showcase their cause.  These usually occur sometime in November, […]

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Simple Hanukkah Giving Ideas

Are you thinking of making your family’s Hanukkah gift exchange an exercise in giving back too? We’ve come up with a couple of creative ways to give back to others:1.  For your polyanna exchange, find out what your local Jewish Family Services needs in the way of Hanukkah presents for their clients.  Instead of (or in addition to) picking names of family members for gift exchanges, choose toys/clothing articles needed by area children.  One family member should be the point person to deliver the items to the Jewish Family Services local office. 2.  Make latkes and sufganiyot to deliver to […]

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10 Ways to Keep your Teen Busy this Summer

Looking for something for your 12 year old + child to do this summer. There are numerous tween and teen volunteer opportunities abound. No need to look any further than right here! 1. The Mitzvah Bowl Hundreds of organizations are listed with mitzvah and community service projects for children of all ages. 2. Teen Life  Thousands of enrichment opportunities for teens are here. 3. Contact your local library. Many offer teen volunteer programs. 4. VolunTEEN Nation Older teens and college students search here from a wide variety of organizations. 5. Mothers’ helpers and babysitters are needed by many families with […]

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Acts of Kindness Reboot

We all have seen many blog, pinterest and news lists showing us the latest ‘good deeds’ or random acts of kindness (RAK) inspiration. Here is an updated compilation of select interesting and unique ways to help others with our reboot ideas: Rosa’s Pizza in Philadelphia, PA encourages their customers to pre-purchase a $1 slice of pizza for the homeless.   View this Video. RAK (Random Act of Kindness) reboot: Prepay at any restaurant for the person behind you! From the Random Acts of Kindness website, an idea was listed to ‘complain less’. Think about how many times we complain in any […]

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Starting a Collection

Many bar/bat mitzvah students are interested in working on a collection of goods as their mitzvah project. If you do not know where to begin, The Mitzvah Bowl has outlined 3 steps to get you started when collecting items for an organization: 1.  Identify what item/items the organization needs. The more specific you are when making a request to friends/family about what you need for your collection, the more items you will receive. 2.  Put out a request to family, friends, your school, your community and to the media. Local newspapers love doing stories about teenagers doing good deeds in their community. Don’t be shy […]

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Should a Mitzvah Project End?

After reading an article in the Jewish Journal about a young woman who is continuing her mitzvah project 15 years later, it dawned on me, if we are in the business of helping kids find mitzvah projects, we should also talk about a mitzvah project’s timeline. When does it start and when does it end? Thousands of bar and bat mitzvah students have used themitzvahbowl.com as a search tool to help them find meaningful mitzvah projects. Many begin their projects up to a year or more in advance, while others start their project in the months leading up to their […]

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It’s Time for Outdoor Volunteering

Spring has sprung after a bitter cold winter & it’s an exciting time to get outdoors and have some good fun!  Good community service fun, that is. Check out your favorite national organization’s websites for walk-a-thons, races, bike-a-thons, golf outings and more.  Below are just a few non-profits that eagerly seek volunteers for their annual fundraisers: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation prepares for their National Lemonade Days raising funds for childhood cancer. The American Cancer Society organizes Relay for Life, which dedicates their funds towards eradicating cancer. Crohn’s & Colitis Takes Steps with their community walk in all 50 states. The […]

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Become Part of Emily’s Entourage!

Are you looking for a mitzvah project?  We can help you – to help others!  Cystic Fibrosis awareness and fundraising for medical advancements in the treatment of this genetic disease. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a chronic, progressive disease that affects the lungs and digestive system, as well as a multitude of other organ systems. Living with CF involves breathing treatments, multiple medications, frequent infections and recurrent hospital stays. There are 30,000 people with CF in the United States and 70,000 worldwide. CF AND TAY SACHS ARE THE MOST COMMON FATAL GENETIC DISEASES AMONG ASHKENAZI JEWS. Emily’s Entourage is named for Emily, […]

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PeacePlayers International

PeacePlayers International 1200 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Suite 875 Washington, D.C. 20036 Contact: Adam Hirsch ahirsch@peaceplayersintl.org 202-408-5111 PeacePlayers International uses the game of basketball to unite, educate and inspire young people in divided communities, based on the premise that children who play together can learn how to live together. (PPI’s affiliate in Israel and the West Bank, PeacePlayers International- Middle East, promotes peaceful coexistence among Arab and Jewish young people in the region and provides positive extracurricular outlets for those from disadvantaged communities.) Children who play together can learn to live together. That’s the idea behind PeacePlayers International, a nonprofit organization that uses basketball […]

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