JCC Cares Social Action Program

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  – Anne Frank

 

JCC Cares logoVolunteer opportunities for all ages

Our community needs you! The JCC’s social action team brings our community together to perform Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and Gemilut Hasadim (acts of loving-kindness).

 

Check out our list of opportunities here

 

 

Additional ideas on how you can help during the COVID-19 pandemic  

  • Blaze it Forward.  Blaze It Forward is a local movement encouraging our community to show kindness on a daily basis. It can be as simple as a wave and a heartfelt smile.
  • Make someone’s day with a surprising act of kindness. Paint rocks and place them around your community for other people to find. 
  • Assemble Care Kits for homeless individuals. Your family can make a Care Kit (or a few), collecting items below in a Ziploc bag and including a card or handwritten note of encouragement. Drop-off Care Kits curbside at the JCC.

• chapstick
• travel-size sunscreen
• deodorant
• playing cards
• journal
• pen
• salty snack (chips, pretzels, trail mix, jerky)
• sweet treat (not chocolate to avoid melting)
• $10 gift card to Walmart, Walgreens, or CVS

  • Write a letter to a hero. Check out dearhero.org for tons of templates and ways to send letters to various heroes.
  • Become an organ donor. Designate that you’re a donor on your driver’s license and share your wishes with your family. https://donatelifecalifornia.org/
  • Volunteer digitally with The Smithsonian Institution. While they are the world’s largest museum and research complex, even they can use a little help. Volunteer online to transcribe historical documents or edit Wikipedia articles related to their artifacts and research. Smithsonian
  • Connect with a senior. Reminding seniors they are special goes a long way. Email artwork, letters, cards or photos to [email protected] or mail to Heritage Pointe at 27356 Bellogente, Mission Viejo, CA 92691.
  • Take the Green Menorah pledge. Make a pledge while lighting your candles, naturally, to make one aspect of your life greener – and inspire friends, family and your community to do the same!
  • Host a neighborhood food drive. Your family can organize a drive to help feed local families. Families Forward will provide a letter explaining why you are collecting food and a flyer listing their most needed food items. Then, you arrange a time to collect food donations from your neighbors and drive them over to their Food Pantry.

    The Merage JCC is hosting a non-contact food drive March 16. Drop-off curbside non-perishable items March 16, 1-5pm.
  • Use your workouts for good. Download an app like Charity Miles to earn money for great causes just by going on your morning jog or walking the dog.
  • Shop for good. It doesn’t get much simpler than swapping your regular Amazon browser for AmazonSmile. When using AmazonSmile 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products gets donated to the charity of your choice. To select the Merage JCC as the recipient of your AmazonSmile shopping, search for Jewish Community Center of Orange County.
  • Clean out your closet. You are likely decluttering—but don’t trash those items so fast. Goodwill has a donation location near you.
  •  Volunteer for the Red Cross online. Digital volunteers sign up to monitor, engage, and report in four-hour shifts. Red Cross 

Sign up to donate blood at the JCC on March 3.

CHOC : Please write thank you notes/cards to the staff of the pediatric Mental Health Inpatient Center.
Attn: Dr. Dani Milliken, 1201 W. La Veta Ave. Orange, CA 92868

Hoag Hospital
One Hoag Dr., P. O. Box 6100, Newport Beach, CA 92658

  • Use your social media accounts for good. Organize a service project, start a food drive, raise awareness of a cause. https://getschooled.com/article/2133-10-ways-to-use-social-media-for-good/
  • Show some love on the sidewalk. Leave kind or inspiring messages on the sidewalk for your neighbors.
  • Pick up litter on the beach. Gather your family to clean up our local beaches and neighborhoods.
  • Advocate for your favorite causes. Find out who your Congress people are here https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map and send a kid-friendly postcard.
  • Make facemasks.  Help support the safety of our community during these trying times. Make facemasks, adult and kid sizes needed, and drop off curbside at the Merage JCC. We will share them with various shelters and nonprofits in our neighborhoods. 
  • Make Paracord “Survival” Bracelets for Troops and First Responders. Not only do these bracelets look cool, they can actually be used to save a life in an emergency situation. They include them in our Care Packages because they’re both functional and meaningful, as they are handmade by an American who wants to show their appreciation to our Troops and First Responders. Operation Gratitude
  • Connect homeless and community members to nonprofit resources they need desperately. 2-1-1 Orange County connects the vulnerable with the health and human resources they need when they need it most. They are looking for volunteers to work the phone lines from home. www.211oc.org 
  • Switch to LED bulbs. Chanukah is the festival of lights, after all. So make the switch to LED light bulbs which, according to Energy Star, use about 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last 6 times longer.
  • Count your blessings. Discuss with your family five things you are grateful for this year.

 

Are you interested in helping those within our JCC community? Contact Heather Zucker to find out how you can help. Additionally, if you have other ideas how to help, please send them to Heather.

Don't forget to tag pictures of your community service projects online with #meragejcc and #jcccares