Social Action Shabbat and Welcoming New Members

 October 24 at our 6:00 pm T'filot we will welcome our new Lakeside members and highlight our social action committee.

Lakeside Congregation has a very active social action committee which has just passed the torch of Leadership from Joyce Lyon to Len Solof.  Looking for a new mitzvah project check out our Lakeside Social Action page and find projects for all ages.  I refer many of our B'nai Mitzvah students to this page and  they find all the information they need to complete 13 hours of Mitzvot.

7th and 8th Grade at Northern Il Food Bank

The social action committee meets monthly to discuss new projects and to bring meals to different homeless shelters in our community. The social action committee is also committed to visiting our Lakeside members who are homebound and they enjoy these visits.

Lakeside's Religious school is also very busy with monthly social action projects.  We pack for our local PADS shelter every 3rd Sunday and ask different grades to bring in the food we need to pack 50-100 lunches.  Thanks to Jill and Michael Klee, Missy Pos and all of the volunteers who help organize the packing of all of the lunches to those who help schlep the lunches to Waukegan.

On the 2nd Sunday of every month we have one grade go the Northern Illinois Food Bank and we carpool with parents for an intergenerational experience.  We pack, sort or do whatever the food Bank needs us to do.  This is and was a favorite project of Rabbi Isaac Serotta's and he was instrumental in having the food bank open on Sunday so our families and congregants can experience this mitzvah.

Jill Klee also spearheads our visits to the soup kitchen at Beth Emet which is in Evanston.  On Wednesday afternoon's we bring the ingredients, cook the meal and serve it to over 100 people in their community room.  Many of our B'nai Mitzvah families have participated in this mitzvah and it always make a deep impression on them.

Beth Emet Soup Kitchen

Our annual mitzvah day will be May 3, 2015.  We will again have numerous opportunities to do Mitzvot in our community including participating in the Chicago Walk for Israel.

Looking for some social action projects?   Click on this links or come in to Lakeside and I can give you even more ideas.

Tzedakah, Tzedakah, Tirdof, Tzedakah, Tzedakah you shall pursue Part 2

To continue the Tzedakah Recipients for Lakeside Congregation  Religious School for 2014 here we go:

2nd grade: Therapeutic Riding Center of Israel.

The Therapeutic Riding Center of Israel is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of disabled individuals through a unique therapeutic and recreational method: Animal Assisted Therapies 
(AAT). Today, over 700 people participate in our therapeutic programs. Along with therapeutic riding lessons, outdoor riding trails and a dog-assisted therapy program, the center offers in cooperation with the Israeli Sports Academy, Wingate, professional courses and training in AAT. 


5th Grade will be donating to PADS, via Lakeside congregation.  Every third week during the school year we pack and donate 50-100 lunches to send the PADS Shelter in Waukegan.

Packing for PADS

PADS’ vision is to provide a path to stable housing and self-sufficiency for everyone who experiences homelessness in Lake County. Our greatest hope is to help end homelessness and ensure happy, healthy, and safe lives for  generations to come.
We will take the 5th grade money and be able to buy some needed supplies when we pack for PADS.  We always seem to run out of bread, or chips and this will allow us to quickly run out and buy what we need on a Sunday.  

6th Grade is donating to Camp CAR, Madrich Will Rivlin will be a counselor there later this week.  

Camp CAR welcomes elementary school students from the city of Chicago. Campers who attend have the opportunity to meet teen mentors, eat three nutritious meals a day, and enjoy activities such as swimming, hiking, arts and crafts, cooking, and a variety of sports and team building activities – all for free!  If you are interested in donating to camp CAR:

Camp Car Supplies or checks can be dropped off or sent to: 
Camp CAR Donations 
Attn: Logan Zinman 
1121 Lake Cook Rd. Suite D 
Deerfield, IL 60025

I think that all of the projects  our students have chosen are well deserving of our Tzedakah we have collected all through the year.  Pleaser take a look at these projects and  I know you will be as proud of our students as I am.