Below, please find information on current and upcoming direct-service, social action opportunities in our community. If you are interested in joining our advocacy/social justice efforts on a state or national level, please click here to view our Tzedek/Social Justice page.
Questions? Contact Karyn Boosin Leit for more information or to help.
ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE BACK
Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges (“IFPO”)
The IFPO is a volunteer-powered food pantry helping to meet essential human needs of food-insecure residents of Orange, East Orange, and West Orange, NJ, with dignity and respect. The IFPO is a collaboration among four faith-based congregations in Essex County: Congregation Beth El, Christ Church Short Hills, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, and Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, plus many other individual volunteers and organizations. The IFPO provides supplemental and emergency food on Wednesday mornings, except the first Wednesday of each month. The IFPO currently serves about 650 neighbors and their families each week at its warehouse and distribution center at 357 South Jefferson Street in Orange, just a 5-minute drive from TSTI!
The IFPO provides food, fresh produce, menstrual care products, diapers, toiletries, cleaning supplies and other necessities. It also offers other resources, including: a diabetes program (education, and monthly diabetes-friendly food, complete with extra produce), on-site medical screening and Covid vaccinations, and assistance from various groups that help clients understand available benefits, such as SNAP, WIC and health insurance.
Volunteers are needed to staff the food pantry on Wednesday mornings. Distributions are outdoors, regardless of the weather. All the food and other supplies are brought out into the parking lot plaza. An outdoor crew serves the walk-up and drive-through client stations. Volunteers are needed for activities such as: re-packing groceries into clients’ reusable bags, loading grocery bags and produce into vehicles, or offering food items at walk-up stations. On Monday mornings, volunteers pack the groceries or other supplies and perform other pantry prep tasks, including breaking down boxes for recycling.
Opportunities may be offered throughout the year to help in other ways at other times, including participating in food packing events, sorting coat donations, and helping to prepare for the Thanksgiving distribution.
Due to the nature of its space and work, all volunteers must be at least high school aged. In order to ensure the proper complement of needed volunteers, IFPO uses a sign-up system available at this link. For more information, please go to their website. You can also send an email to Karyn Boosin Leit to sign up for the IFPO newsletter and receive information about volunteer opportunities.
TSTI Second Saturday Soup Kitchen
A wonderful and rewarding tikkun olam activity for families! Help make a positive difference for our neighbors by volunteering to contribute 10 complete meals, homemade or store-bought. You’ll contactlessly drop-off the nutritious lunches at the Epiphany & Christ Church in Orange. Church volunteers will distribute the meals to clients who visit their food pantry. Additional details can be found here.
Second Saturday Soup Kitchen dates in 2024:
- January 13th, February 10th, March 9th, April 13th, May 11th, June 8th, July 13th, August 10th, September 14th, October 12th, November 9th, and December 14th
Want to join our contact list or have questions? Email the soup kitchen team
Ongoing Drive: Clothing and Small Household Goods
Epiphany and Christ Church, where the TSTI Second Saturday Soup Kitchen meals are served, is continuously seeking IN-SEASON donations of gently-used coats, clothing, and shoes for children and adults, as well as small household items (pots and pans, housewares, bed linens, and small appliances, such as toasters or coffeemakers). Please, no furniture, or anything big and bulky. These items will be distributed at the Church’s Saturday food pantry.
DROP OFF LOCATION:
Church of Epiphany and Christ Church
105 Main Street, Orange
(Enter the building at the back of the parking lot into Parish Hall.)
DROP-OFF TIMES:
Saturdays, 9 am-1:30 pm.
Questions? Call Epiphany and Christ Church at 973-629-7713.
GIVING BACK TO TSTI
There are also opportunities to give back to TSTI directly through service to the Temple. Whether you’d like to organize the Blood Drive, volunteer to usher for holidays, or help plan adult learning opportunities, it’s a great way to meet new people and give back at the same time. Contact Beth Blackman to learn more.