Rabbi Billy’s Day of Social Justice: Advocacy, Action and Community Sunday, April 18, 2021
The Day at a Glance
6:30 am - 10:00 am Breakfast Run NYC
9:00 am - 3:00 pm Blood Drive WCT
10:00 am - 12:00 pm Furniture Sharehouse Lamp Drive Furniture Sharehouse, Westchester County Airport
10:00 am - 2:00 pm Collections WCT
10:00 am - 2:00 pm Outdoor Clean-up WCT
11:00 am - 12:00 pm Refugee Task Force: Meet the Azizis Zoom
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Social Justice Story Time Zoom
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Knitting and Crocheting Zoom
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Congregation-wide Closing Zoom
To sign up for any of these events, click here.
Program Descriptions
Breakfast Run:
Our first run of the Spring is scheduled for Sunday, April 18, and we need reusable shopping bags. Due to COVID, this run will be somewhat different from past runs. Space for volunteers is limited, so if you’d like to join please reach out and let us know on the signup form, and we will finalize the roster as we get closer to the date. We are unable to collect food items in bulk at this time, but if you would like to volunteer to prepare food bags the day before the run, please sign up - those efforts will be greatly appreciated.
We need 7 volunteers to fill 12 bags with the following:
- buttered bagel (wrapped in sandwich bag)
- yogurt
- orange or banana
- juice box
- hard boiled egg - in sandwich bag
- slice of cheese or cheese stick
- granola/energy bar
- napkin
All of the above placed in a gallon-size ziplock bag.
Blood Drive:
Save a life. Give blood at the WCT Blood Drive on Sunday, April 18 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. You possess something priceless that will help save lives, and we want it. The temple and its partner New York Blood Center have instituted all formal state-mandated COVID-safety protocols including limiting the number of donors per hour. Give in the comfort of our sanctuary with your fellow congregants and neighbors. Sign-up online by clicking HERE. Not available April 18? Then get over to the NYBC in Elmsford where a number of us have safely donated during the pandemic and tell them “Woodlands sent me!”
Collections @ WCT:
We are collecting items which are not covered by SNAP and other food support. The items will be distributed to Neighbors Link, Dobbs Ferry Food Pantry and Greenburgh WestCOP:
- toiletries (soaps, toothpaste, toothbrushes, women’s sanitary products)
- paper goods ( toilet paper, kitchen paper towels)
- diapers and baby wipes (brand names preferred)
- house cleaning products, dish soap and laundry detergent
In advance of April 18, you can help by bringing the items to the temple, Monday- Friday, April 12-16, during office hours (usually 10:00 am – 2:00 pm, but please call the office to confirm that someone is available), or ordering on-line for delivery to the temple.
On Sunday, April 18, you can drop off your donations between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. We need 1 volunteer per hour to sign up to accept the donations.
Refugee Task Force: Meet the Azizis
Welcoming refugee families is a significant legacy to Rabbi Billy’s 25 years at Woodlands, as he was instrumental in supporting this effort. Visit our “virtual table” to learn how the Refugee Task Force began, and how we prepared to welcome a refugee family along with our partners at Temple Bet Am Shalom. The Azizi family will be with us to tell you how they’ve adjusted to their new home. We encourage you to join the Task Force and be part of this rewarding experience! Thank you to all who contributed so much to resettle this family successfully, and let’s start thinking about what role we can play for the next refugee family that comes to Westchester through HIAS. Sign up to join us at 11:00 am on Zoom for to learn more about the Refugee Task Force.
Social Justice Story Time:
Bring your children and grandchild along for Social Justice Story Time with author Mel Kaspin Blume who will share Change-Maker Village.
Change-Maker Village is an anti-racist children's book that takes readers on an emotional journey when two 9-year-old best friends encounter a racist person for the first time. After this experience, and a powerful talk between the two, they make a pact to create and inspire change in their community right away.
Each book comes with an official Change-Maker Certificate, along with resources for grown-ups, including a list of helpful organizations, anti-racist book lists for both children and grown-ups and additional action items for both age groups. All profits from the Change-Maker Village ebook go to the NAACP. Learn more about Change-Maker Village HERE. Sign up to join us on Zoom at 1:00 pm.
Furniture Sharehouse:
Help spread light to needy Westchester residents by donating a lamp to our Furniture Sharehouse Lamp Drive. Furniture Sharehouse is Westchester's Furniture Bank that collects gently-used and new furniture from the general public and distributes it free of charge to clients referred by member social service agencies. Since opening in 2007 Furniture Sharehouse has helped make a house a home for more than 14,900 Westchester residents, including the family WCT helped resettle from Afghanistan. Furnishings have also gone to the families DATF (Domestic Abuse Task Force) has set up in new homes over the past ten years. Pandemic-induced cleaning and redecorating have resulted in a flood of donations so the warehouse is full of furniture, but lamps and other small appliances are a constant need. There is always room in the "lamp department."
Here's how you can help:
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Bring your new or gently-used lamps, toasters, coffee pots, toaster ovens, small microwaves and pots and pans to the Furniture Sharehouse on Sun, Apr 18 between 10:00 am and noon. Furniture Sharehouse Address: Building #3, Airport Road, Westchester County Airport, White Plains, NY 10604. Look for the parking lot behind the cell phone parking lot adjacent to the overflow parking lot.
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Join the Lamp Drive Team. We need 4 volunteers for a shift from 9:45 am - 12 noon; it can be a family as long as children are 12+ years old. Volunteers will be collecting lamps, filling out receipts and organizing them in the lamp department. Sign up to volunteer.
- Volunteer to collect lamps and small appliances from people who cannot bring them to the warehouse on April 18 and deliver them yourself.
- Email rjtf@wct.org if you have a lamp but can't get to the warehouse for drop off on April 18.
Click HERE for directions to the Furniture Sharehouse Warehouse at Westchester County Airport.
Click HERE to learn more about Furniture Sharehouse.
Knitting and Crocheting:
Woodlands Knitters and Crocheters share work and camaraderie as we produce lovely items for those in need. We have a group numbering anywhere from 8- 12 women attending our meetings – normally in person, and lately, of course, via Zoom. Over the past years, we’ve made blankets for Hope’s Door, chemo caps, shawls and lap blankets for Phelps Hospital, hats and scarves for the Midnight Run and the Coachman Family Center. Our work and time have been inspired by the good energy that permeates Woodlands Temple, a place close to our hearts.
There we are reminded to help repair the world. We do that with each stitch!
Sign up to join us on Zoom. Email: knitting@wct.org with any questions.
Closing Program - Video Tributes & More:
We close out this amazing day with tributes from congregants, readings from our kids, music, and more!
Everyone is welcome to sign up to join on Zoom – but you can do more. We are creating a video montage illustrating how Rabbi Billy has inspired so many of us in our tikkun olam endeavors. Be part of it – record by holding your phone horizontally and try to limit your video message to around 1 minute. Upload your video HERE by March 31. Contact Emily at theemilyroos@gmail.com should you have any questions.