Dozens of Tucson Jewish community members fanned out across the city on Jan. 20 for a Day of Chesed. Chesed means “kindness” in Hebrew. Volunteers participated in various service projects, such as packing care kits for people experiencing homelessness and donating blood to the American Red Cross.
The Day of Chesed coincided with the 30th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday established to honor the civil rights leader and encourage Americans to volunteer in their communities.
“It’s a day of good deeds, so we might as well put a little Jewish spin on it,” said Arielle Shemesh, community impact project coordinator at Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona, who coordinated the day’s events with Levia Nahary, director of community engagement at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
At Kol Ami Synagogue, the Sy Juster Social Hall was a hive of activity as 29 volunteers packed 300 care kits for the Tucson Multi-Displinary Outreach Program, or MDOT, which is part of the city’s Housing First Program that works to end and prevent homelessness.
MDOT is a partnership between the City of Tucson, El Rio Community Health Center, and several social service organizations.
The kits included moist wipes or other hygiene supplies, a water bottle, tuna and crackers, Vienna sausages, fruit cups, and other non-perishable snacks.
Celia Lozano, a nurse practitioner with El Rio, and Thelma Magallanes, the MDOT coordinator, explained that offering the care kits helps MDOT teams gain the trust of people living in homeless encampments, so they can work to find them housing.
Fielding questions from volunteers, Magallanes said that to report an encampment, people may call 3-1-1, the city’s non-emergency service request line. Data from such calls also helps programs like MDOT apply for grants, she noted. A 2023 grant of more than $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development helped establish MDOT.
Tucson Torah Center hosted a toy drive and gift-wrapping party, collecting more than 120 toys for Chai Lifeline West Coast, which provides emotional, social, and financial support for children and families living with serious illness or loss.
Children from TTC’s day school joined in, making cards for the gift recipients.
Volunteer Dianne Barron, who recently moved to Tucson, met TTC’s Rabbi Yeshaya Levin at Walmart, where his shopping cart was piled high with toys. She immediately offered to help with the wrapping effort.
Tucson Hebrew Academy and PJ Library/PJ Our Way parents and children teamed up to create food packages and oatmeal kits for students at Homer Davis Elementary School facing food insecurity.
THA parent Stephanie Pearmain, a children’s book author and assistant professor of children’s and young adult literature at the University of Arizona, read “Maddi’s Fridge” by Lois Brandt to the crowd. Kids also make birthday cards for Homer Davis students.
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron and several Congregation Chaverim members also participated in the event at THA. Aaron began the day’s program by speaking about Jews in the civil rights movement. She taught kids and adults the civil rights songs “We Shall Live in Peace” and “We Shall Overcome,” adding a few new lines and the Hebrew words for peace (shalom), hope (tikvah), kindness (chesed), and joy (simcha).
Community volunteers and Hadassah Southern Arizona members visited residents at Handmaker, where artist Anne Lowe led a greeting card-making activity.
Steven Oscherwitz helped Handmaker residents, including Miriam Cline, create their cards. Oscherwitz, an infectious disease doctor, said the Day of Chesed was one of several volunteer activities he engages in.
“I try to do good things,” he said.
Cline, a former Congregation Anshei Israel preschool teacher, said she plans to send the greeting cards to her large Mexican family.
JPSA hosted a clothing swap to benefit Homer Davis Elementary School. The school in the Flowing Wells Unified District, which has a high percentage of students whose families are below the poverty line, has long been a focus of JPSA volunteer efforts.
Under the rules of the swap, participants donating one to five items could take one item, while donation six-10 items entitled them to two. But many people donated gently used items and new underwear and jackets for the students at Homer Davis without returning to “shop” at the swap, said Ital Ironstone, JPSA Women’s Philanthropy manager.
The remaining children’s clothes will go to Homer Davis, while the men’s and women’s clothing will be donated to Spreading Threads, a clothing bank in the Flowing Wells neighborhood.
In the spirit of pikuach nefesh, or saving a life, the Tucson J’s Day of Chesed event was an American Red Cross blood drive, which collected 27 pints of blood.
“It was a big success,” says Nahary. According to the Red Cross, each pint can help up to three patients, so the day’s contributions can positively impact as many as 81 lives.
The J is extending its Chesed activities with a sneaker/sock drive to support Hope City Church. Through Jan. 26, new or gently worn sneakers and/or new socks can be dropped off in the fitness center.
At Kol Ami, volunteer Sadie Goldman cited the Jewish value of tikkun olam (repair of the world), which she holds dear.
Summing up the Day of Chesed, she said, “Through individual acts of service we can repair the world, one day at a time.”
