Caring - We Care
We strive to create a community of caring. Whether you are new to town or a longtime Fort Wayne resident, our Caring Committee is a great opportunity to get acquainted with others in the congregation.
We help Temple families who need assistance with meals and comfort during a difficult time. We also try to visit homebound members and send cards for various life cycle events and holidays. We accept donations of homemade soup and/or matzah balls to have on hand so that we may respond on short notice to those in need of a little Jewish penicillin. And we stay in touch with our college students.
Be an important part of the Achduth Vesholom community by touching others with your kindness. Help be a source of support, whether offering your friendly voice on the phone, thoughtful mail correspondence, or delicious soup. Contact the Temple office to offer your help.
We also ask that you let the Temple office or Rabbi Katz know if a family member is in the hospital or if other situations arise when the congregation may be of assistance or comfort. Changes in hospital privacy rules make it difficult for health officials to directly contact the Temple, so we aren't always aware of situations unless family or friends notify us.
Outreach
We think it is very important to reach out to Temple members regarding matters of concern especially to Jews-by-Choice and intermarried couples. Our aim is to make everyone feel comfortable at the Temple. We also hope to sensitize others to outreach-related issues. Reading material on outreach topics is available in our library.
Interfaith
We have an active interfaith committee that helps educate our community about Judaism. Church and community groups are welcome to arrange visits and tours of our congregation. We work cooperatively with other religious organizations in the community on a range cultural programs and social action projects as well as having an ongoing Jewish-Catholic dialogue series with St. Mary's Church.
Social Action
Our Social Action Committee is actively committed to tikkun olam, the betterment of the world around us.
We have an ongoing food drive to collect nonperishable items for food banks in the area, as well as a major drive during the High Holy Days to help feed the hungry. We also have a partnership MAZON, a national Jewish organization that makes food grants to Jewish and non-Jewish food agencies throughout the United States. We take seriously the commandment to set aside "the corners of our fields" for the poor and the stranger so that they might share in the bounty of our harvest.
A few years ago, the Temple adopted Wellspring Social Services as a project of local focus. Wellspring began in 1968 as a volunteer effort among five churches to provide an array of social services in the downtown area of Fort Wayne. It has grown into a multi-faceted, ecumenical, faith-based organization offering numerous programs for the young, elderly, single parent families, etc. The Temple is a Wellspring partner together with 16 churches. The Temple has worked in conjunction with St. Mary's Soup Kitchen feeding lunch to 15 to 25 senior citizens twice each month at Wellspring's Senior Lunch program.
Our Mitzvah Day presents a wonderful opportunity each spring for members to volunteer on social action projects throughout the Fort Wayne area. Our ReligiousSchool students also take part in community service projects as part of their instructional program.
Members also help in other areas, including making homemade blankets for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or in need through Project Linus and adopting a family in Israel which has been victimized by terror. |