TIKKUN OLAM    —Community Service _________________________________ BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF CARING Shalom from your new co-chairs of the Tikkun Olam Committee!  You can join Congregation Kol Shofar's Tikkun Olam Yahoo Group by clicking on this link. During the Aleynu prayer in Kol Shofar’s Saturday morning service, we read the words, “L’takken olam b’malchut Shaddai” – to repair the world under G-d. Clearly there’s lots for all of us to do in that regard, and some of you are already doing it. We want to know what you’re doing! The Coalition Lunch, The Mill Street and Emergency Shelter projects, Habitat for Humanity volunteers, Panim el Panim, the Green Chavurah – all of these projects are underway, (you can get details through the links on this page), and we’re sure there are others of you who are repairing the world in ways we haven’t heard about.   This committee’s role is to celebrate and publicize the Tikkun Olam work of Kol Shofar’s members, to rally our community to take action, to facilitate conversation about Tikkun Olam, to organize our responses to requests for social action, and to help infuse our Tikkun Olam efforts with a deep connection to Judaism and Jewish life. If you'd like to volunteer for the committee (which mostly works together by email), discuss an idea for a project, or are doing something -- even once -- to help repair the world, please get in touch with us at tikkunolam@kolshofar.org. As Rabbi Derby reminds us, the Torah urges us to take care of each other. Let’s work together to make Tikkun Olam an essential part of our community.                 ~Marvin and Ilene Zauderer    COMMUNITY SERVICE COALITION SUNDAY LUNCH Feed those in need in Marin. Give a small amount of your time and serve a hot lunch at Kol Shofar. On the second Sunday of each month, a group of volunteers cooks and distributes a meal. Help out once or every month. To learn more, and to sign up for lunches or dinners, see our Coalition Lunch/Dinner page. PANIM EL PANIM AND MARIN ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Panim el Panim (face to face) has actively worked on building relationships between Kol Shofar members, between members of Kol Shofar and other MOC (Marin Organizing Committee) organizations, and with state and county public officials. Learn more here, on the PANIM EL PANIM page. MILL STREET SHELTER– LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS In this time of increasing need, help others through the Mill Street Shelter. Volunteers provide 1-2 food items every other month and deliver the food to the shelter in San Rafael. Adults, teens and B'nei Mitzvah students are welcome! To volunteer or for additional information, please contact Beth Minick or Dolores Rudow through the Kol Shofar directory or through the Kol Shofar office. Thank you! See the letter, below, about the Mill Street Shelter project and see the Photo Gallery by clicking here. GREEN CHAVURAH Kol Shofar’s Green Chavurah is a dedicated and enthusiastic group of individuals, committed to transforming the synagogue into a model of eco-sustainability. HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Join a team from Kol Shofar to help build homes.  Please see our Committees and Chavurot page for more information. Letter for Mill Street Shelter Program: February, 2010 Folks, For those of you who weren't aware of this, the Kol Shofar volunteers on the Mill Street Shelter project supply food for an entire day at the shelter one day per month (the 4th Wednesday). Each volunteer provides 1-2 food items. The group is split in half and each half alternates months, so if you'd like to volunteer, you need only contribute once every two months! Please consider volunteering your time by getting in touch with Beth Minick (brminick at comcast.net) or Dolores Rudow (dolrud at comcast.net). This is a great opportunity for teens and b'nai mitzvah students as well. Below below is a lovely letter, passed along by Dolores, from one of the people whom the Mill Street Shelter Project has served. Kol HaKavod to all the Shelter volunteers!      B'shalom,           Marvin Photo Gallery: click here. -------------------- Dear Mill Street Food Providers: As we approach Thanksgiving later this month, I thought I would share a letter of thanks from one of the people we feed at Mill Street Shelter. I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks for the memories. Cooking is an art like playing the harp. Music tickles the eardrum like a million birds all singing a unique melody simultaneously. Ah, but a hot meal with friends is like a blazing fire on a cold, snowy and stormy day. Thanks for the delicious home cooked meals at the end of often long and trying days. These meals were sprinkled with the spice of love and tasted like they just came out of the over of heaven. MMMM, the lasagna, raviolis, tacos, pizzas, salads, meatloaf, veggies, and especially the cookies, brownies, cakes and pies with ice cream. The homeless often feel lost, disconnected, lonely, and unloved. To come home to a place with loving hands reaching out for you, who recognize our face and know your name is like a raft on a vast, turbulent ocean of unknown faces. The words, "Hi Joe!‚" is harp music to my ears, or "How was your day, Jane?" Thanks so much for your gentle hands of kindness carrying a big bowl of sunshine into the lives of the homeless in an often very foggy and storm tossed world. When we smell the aroma of home cooking and follow its scent back to Mill Street, we know we are not forgotten, but "mom" is still here, carrying and cooking for us in the kitchen at Mill Street-you guys! Thanks a million for a million meals at Mill Street. You help us remember that there is always "hope" for the homeless! Love too!      Sincerely,        Barbara Homeward Bound Community Service Days January 31, 2010 Hi All, I want to thank each of you from Homeward Bound for your dedication, hard work and open attitudes to working hard despite the small space and other limitations. I was very moved by the spirit of the day and especially the overwhelmingly generous gifts you as a group provided. The families we serve are in crisis when they come through our Emergency Family shelter and the simple gesture of cleaning, painting, and furnishing the rooms they live in reminds them that the community cares about their best interests and wants to support them. Thank you for your generosity and hard work as well as for the chance to get to know each of you. I learn so much from the volunteers I meet and work with and this group left me feeling energized for all the future projects I hope to plan at the Family Emergency Center! So thank you all and I hope to be in touch with you in the near future.   Warm Regards, Dominique Legnitto Volunteer Coordinator Homeward Bound of Marin 415-382-3363 x212   I am writing to express deep thanks and appreciation to Jo and Phil, who managed to carry out a transformation of two rooms at the family emergency shelter in a very short time with far too many volunteers for the space. The two of you were incredible in having a vision and making it happen step by step -- with on the spot problem solving at every turn.  It was a great experience for everyone who participated.  Thanks to Dominique, Mark and Hagar as well and to everyone who contributed room furnishings, fixtures, bedding, appliances, etc. and who volunteered their time.  It could not have been done without the experience and skill of Phil and Jo -- who were a great team.  The rooms looked wonderful -- well, the one room where we did the complete makeover did and the other one looked much brighter and cleaner.   THANK YOU!!!  Liz Arnold Westminster Church Volunteer coordinator   The event went very well.  We had plenty of volunteers and actually finished early.  Phil Walters was a complete stud (and even stud finder on one occasion).  Both the cooperation and the outcome were quite impressive and rewarding to all you volunteered.  I am sure the residents at HB are most appreciative.   Mark Swoiskin, Panim el Panim Chair July 12, 2009: Tikkun Olam Project with Westminster Kol Shofar and Westminster Presbyterian Church teamed up to paint the Family Emergency Shelter of Homeward Bound in San Rafael. To read about it and see photos, see the write-up here. You can also take a look at the Homeward Bound Facebook fan page.