Feature
Volunteers packing birthday bags for MIFA Meals on
Wheels recipients.
Jewish Scene I September 2018 19
Community Partners (JCP) chief strategy
officer, engaged 16 groups to participate in
this historical event,” said James Seacat,
MIFA’s communications director.
Volunteers were recruited from Anshei
Sphard-Beth El Emeth Congregation,
Baron Hirsch Congregation, Beth Sholom
Synagogue, Bornblum Jewish Community
School, Chabad Lubavitch of Tennessee,
Hillels of Memphis – U niversity of Memphis
and Rhodes College, Jewish Community
Partners, Margolin Hebrew Academy /
Feinstone Yeshiva of the South, Memphis
BBYO, Memphis Jewish Community Center,
Memphis Jewish Home & Reh ab, Memphis
NCSY, Or Chadash Synagogue, Plough Towers,
Temple Israel and Young Israel of Memphis.
“JCP purchased 1000 large brown paper bags,
which were decorated by children throughout
the community before they were filled,” said
Bluma. “Families participated at a PJ Library
“Shabbat Shalom Y’all” event, at synagogues,
day schools and religious schools.”
The groups bought and collected items during
the weeks before and brought them to the
JCP offices. There the goal was to pack 1 000
birthday bags that will be distributed to Meals
on Wheels clients. The birthday bags contained
socks, T-shirts, toiletries, tissues, stationery,
pens/pencils, postage stamps, games (e.g.
dominoes, playing cards, crossword puzzle
books), flashlights, blankets, gloves/mittens
and winter hats.
“We are thrilled to join with our
congregations, schools and agencies to help
celebrate MIFA’s 50th anniversary through
community service,” said Bluma. “Our
community partners responded immediately
and enthusiastically to be a part of this
initiative in giving back to MIFA, which serves
such a critical role in our city. As we approach
the Jewish High Holidays and reflect on how
we can be better people in the year ahead, our
tradition lists tzedakah (charity) as one of
the deeds we should engage in as we cleanse
ourselves of our past misdeeds. Letting our
city’s vulnerable seniors know that we are
thinking of them on their birthdays is a
wonderful act of tzedakah in this season.”
Temple Israel and Idlewild Presbyterian
Church also partnered to organize a
neighborhood block party during that same week
for Caritas Village in the Binghampton area.
On September 14, MIFA hosted a Legacy Day
at its headquarters at 910 Vance Avenue. They
unveiled a historical marker to honor MIFA’s
founding and pay tribute to MIFA as the city’s
preeminent interfaith organization.
On October 11, at 6 p.m. MIFA will host its
Golden Gala at Hilton Memphis, 393 Ridge Lake
Boulevard. Memphis will celebrate MIFA’s past
and future in a memorable evening including
a seated dinner, live music, inspirational
presentations, and the announcement of MIFA
Center for CommUNITY, an interactive website
devoted to volunteer service. The center
will connect volunteers with engagement
opportunities and help them understand
why their service matters. It will also feature
educational curricula, training tools, and
advocacy resources related to seniors,
homelessness, poverty, and interfaith for
individuals, families and faith groups.
“Perhaps the most important factor in MIFA’s
longevity is what our founders knew in 1968
and what we still know today,” said Sally
Jones Heinz, MIFA’s president and CEO. “In
a city once again divided by fear, hate and
suspicion and misunderstanding, MIFA
offers a remedy that is both profound and
practical: we can know our neighbors. We offer
Memphians the opportunity to know their
neighbors, over 50,000 of them each year, in
their greatest areas of need – nutritious food,
companionship, advocacy for seniors, and
shelter for families in crisis.”
To read more about Temple Israel’s long-time
involvement with MIFA, visit https://www.
mifa.org/publications and click on Hope in
Action, Summer 2018.
Past and present MIFA board leaders from Temple Israel
Rabbi Bess Wohlner
Rabbi James Wax
Bert Prosterman
Leo Bearman
EJ Goldsmith
Mark Finestone
Jef Feibelman
Paula Jacobson
Judy Royal
Paul Berz
Rabbi Katie Bauman
Rabbi Harry Danziger
/publications
/publications
