Social Action Committee

What is B’nai Moshe Social Action and where does it fit into the Jewish Community?

True, B’nai Moshe has been active in the area of the blood drive. And yes, B’nai Moshe has been at the forefront of helping with the delivery of Yad Ezra food baskets. But there are other programs which we, as a community, can become involved.

One such project is a reading mentoring program. For this type of program a volunteer would be assigned to work with a child with a reading deficiency. Prior to working with the child, the volunteer would be trained in the proper methods of mentoring to bring the student up to an acceptable level of reading and understanding what was being read. This is a two hour a week program for retirees in our synagogue who have the skills and patience to work with these students.

Another program would be working with a city (Pontiac/Detroit) initiative, planning and participating in a project called “Safe Night”. This would involve working with a Social Services recognized initiative planning an event that would target children at risk between the ages of 10 and 17. According to Dr Dudley-White of Detroit’s Mayors Time for Children, this type if program participation gives the children a positive view of the suburbanites. In turn, those participating get a positive prospective of what the suburbanite is all about. What really can make this type of program a positive experience, is that our children can participate along with the parents.

A program that is just in the early discussion stage is inviting children from a selected Detroit or Pontiac initiative to join in a Purim program with our children participating in the Life Program. The objective would be to educate about a holiday and to have fun in the process.

These are the types of programs the Social Action committee is aiming for. But, and this is a big “BUT”, it can only happen with your help. The Social Action committee needs warm bodies to make it go. Age or sex is not a criterion for participation. Without your volunteering social action will not work at B’nai Moshe. A small committee can only do so much.

If you are interested in program participation, drop your name and e-mail address off at the synagogue office or e-mail: cbminfo@bnaimoshe.org