Temple Avodah joined 14 South Shore temples, churches and community organizations to help those in need on Dec. 13 by showing strength in unity as a way to demonstrate the power of togetherness in the event “Better Together Day of Giving.”
Coordinated by Temple Avodah members, the group of organizations represented Oceanside, Long Beach, Lynbrook, and Baldwin. Each organization created its own day of giving based on the needs of its community, and times of giving varied from organization to organization.
There was a wide range of collections and giving that include food, clothing, paper goods, toys, refundable plastic bottles, cash, books, masks, gift cards and more.
“In a time of holidays and celebration, we recognized it is also a time where togetherness is hard to fathom, when need is greater than we can imagine, and hope is sometimes difficult,” said Tom Wieder, a member of the board of trustees and a past president of Temple Avodah. “This is an effort by multiple organizations working toward a common goal to meet some of the many needs across our communities and provide a much needed ray of hope, dignity and understanding that we are always better together.”
Participants in the event included Temple Avodah, Oceanside Jewish Center, Temple Am Echad, St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church, the Oceanside Library, First United Methodist Church, the Friedberg JCC, Temple Emanuel of Long Beach, South Baldwin Jewish Center, St. Christopher’s Church, Young Israel, Chabad of the Beaches and Temple Israel of Long Beach.
Courtesy Temple Avodah; compiled by Mike Smollins
