On Sunday, October 3, more than 120 Atlanta young professionals, PALS, and families with young children "did good" across Atlanta. Participants came together to clean up local parks, stock the JF&CS food pantry, engage with older adults living in Berman Commons Assisted Living & Memory Care, and harvest grapes for a community garden.
Thank you to Doriet Fischer & Nathaniel Sauer, JF&CS Mitzvah Day Co-Chairs for their incredible efforts helping with this event.
Young professionals enjoyed meeting up at several locations throughout metro Atlanta. The morning started with helping at Trees Atlanta, working hard to clear invasive vines to make room for new trees on the Beltline. Volunteers spent time relocating mums, hydrangeas, and rosemary plants with Park Pride at Murphey Candler Park. In partnership with Repair the World, young professionals spent an afternoon at Campbellton Community Garden helping and learning about Atlanta’s city gardens.
"Being new to Atlanta, it was really nice to meet new people, and also have the opportunity to do good for the Atlanta community," said Mitzvah Day participant, Jordan Frechtman.
A favorite among the young professionals was harvesting over 500 pounds of grapes with Concrete Jungle at a vineyard in Norcross. In partnership with Etz Chaim Young Adults and ATID-Temple Sinai Young Adult Group, volunteers got their hands dirty while cleaning up the Beltline with Park Pride.
"When we were on the Beltline people came up to thank us also for cleaning- it was really nice," said Doriet Fischer.
At Berman Commons, young families and PAL matches visited with the older adult residents where all enjoyed playing bingo and creating works of art.
At the JF&CS food pantry, young families gathered to help fight food insecurity as part of Mitzvah Day. Each participating family had fun shopping for needed grocery items which they then brought to the pantry. They sorted and shelved a total of 219 pounds of food! They received a food pantry tour, created Tzedakah boxes, and read and discussed books on food insecurity with our partners from PJ Library Atlanta.
Pam Cohen, PJ Library Connector, reported that “we were so delighted to partner with JF&CS and bring families together to build awareness of food insecurity around Atlanta and JF&CS’ wonderful food pantry resource to help feed the hungry.”
Thank you to all of our Mitzvah Day participants, our community partners, and our chairs for making Mitzvah Day 2021 a success!
