Hesed Cooks @ home AND in the Adas parking lot!
Our cooking program has grown significantly over the past year. Each month our Hesed cooks provide food for our social action partner organizations. People depend on our food, and we are so happy to provide it!
To cook at home, please sign up to bring either a casserole, banana bread or both. Make and freeze your contribution any time, then drop your frozen food at Adas on Sunday, June 27, between 10am - 12pm. If you can’t make that time, you can drop the food off at Adas during the week between 9am - 5pm.
Whether you cook at home or not, on June 22 at 6:30 pm, there are a limited number of spots for people to prepare the banana bread in person in the Adas parking lot at socially distanced tables. If the spots are full, please add your name to the wait list in case spots open up. We invite our in-person cooks to also cook at home, especially casseroles so we can feed everyone expecting food from Adas.
Why banana bread? Because our June Hesed cooking program is dedicated to the memory of Jennie Litvack, our amazing shofar blower and one of the founders of the Jewish Mindfulness Center, on the occasion of the second yartzheit of her passing. Jennie was well known for her banana bread, which is actually her mother Naomi’s recipe, which appeared in the 2001 Gan cookbook. We hope you’ll join us to honor Jennie’s memory and to help feed many people in need.
For our June cooking event:
• Register below to cook @ Adas or cook @ home
• Cook any time once you have the recipes.
• Prepare one or both dishes and as many as you want of each. It is very important you follow the directions for how to prepare, wrap and freeze the food. Once the food arrives at Adas, we add ingredient labels before sending it on its way.
• Deliver the frozen food you make to the Adas parking lot on Sunday, June 27 between 10am - 12pm.
Recipes and instructions for cooking and delivery available here.
For our Adas Cooks @ Home events, food is delivered to the following community partner organizations our Social Action Committee works closely with:
Anne Frank House - This independent non-profit organization provides permanent housing and other support including food to formerly homeless individuals. Currently 11 people, who have chronic mental illness, live in their own comfortable apartments provided by Anne Frank House.
Adas-Behrend Senior Fellowship Participants - Adas Israel, in partnership with the Jewish Council on the Aging, and the DCJCC, offers a hot lunch and programs for seniors each weekday. These daily programs are for D.C. residents aged 60 and over. The in-person meal program has been suspended throughout the pandemic, and seniors receive their meals directly through the DC Department of Aging.
International Rescue Committee (IRC) – Through the IRC in Silver Spring, MD, Adas Israel helps serve recently arrived refugee families, easing the difficult transition to a new homeland by offering tutoring, help with job searches, transportation support and other services along with friendship. So far, Adas has mentored five refugee families from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Congo, and we are forming new teams now to assist even more newly settled families. For more information on how to become a mentor, please visit www.adasisrael.org/socialaction.
Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission – Just one hour from DC, the mission provides a residential program to help individuals formerly addicted to opioids develop social skills, self-esteem and positive work ethics. In addition, the mission provides meals at their facility to anyone in need, including many families affected by high unemployment, the opioid crisis and the pandemic.
Sasha Bruce Youthwork (SBY), established in 1974 is one of the largest and most experienced providers of services to youth in Washington, DC. Sasha Bruce helps young people find safe homes, achieve and maintain good physical and mental health, create and strengthen supportive and stable families, and explore opportunities in education and careers. Our Hesed food will go to the Drop In Center which works with 40-50 young people and where they can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Besides preparing food for these youths, SBY welcomes notes of encouragement and inspiration to these youths who are vulnerable. These notes will be given to the youth in their Drop In Center.
TraRon Center - The TraRon Center after-school program provides a safe, supportive space for elementary school children affected by gun violence. During this pandemic, the Center has created a learning pod for children who are significantly behind and in need of support.
Ward 3 Mutual Aid - This organization is part of a grassroots response to COVID-19 in Washington DC. We are a collective of neighbors helping neighbors & organizing to build a just and equitable city.
The need for food is great at this time, so we are planning to continue Adas Cooks at Home as a monthly program. We hope you will cook this month and every month. The food you make does make a difference in the lives of many people! Thank you for cooking for a cause.
