Social Responsibility

There are literally thousands of people whose lives have been changed by Social Responsibility Projects delivered by US Chesed initiatives.

Social Responsibility projects focus on acts of loving kindness and the principle of Tikkun Olam (Healing the world). This involves projects and campaigns which encourage our members to engage in projects that will make a positive difference to the wider community Jewish and non-Jewish.

In the past few years, US Chesed has introduced a number of innovative social responsibility campaigns which have attracted hundreds of volunteers from within the United Synagogue. These include:

• Cooking initiatives: cooking for the homeless people as part of the homelessness project, cooking for women in domestic abuse shelters, including baking for the winter and spring parties for the kids in these shelter, and cooking for Jewish families in need.
• Taking part in Tikun’s light up a life winter projects, which includes cooking and feeding people over the winter festive period, and delivering chocolate boxes to firemen, nurses and the police force who need to be working over the winter festive period.
• Running 2 asylum seekers drop in centres which include a donation room, a befriending area, some professional advice from doctors, lawyers and councillors, a play area for the kids and some Tesco vouchers to help with their food shop.
• Collections in support of a variety of charities including food items for food banks and the charity GIFT, shoes, clothes and toys for asylum seekers, mens suits for Homeless Action Barnet used for job interviews to help them get off the street, games and toys to give as gifts over the winter festive period for vulnerable kids and kids in hospitals.
• Sourcing and packing Mishloach Manot boxes for Purim, and baking honey cakes for Rosh Hashanah for members supported by Jewish charities and Jewish care homes.

US Chesed also works with communities on their local Mitzvah Day projects.

Many of these projects have been suspended or altered during Covid, but we look forward to resuming them in their original format.

If you are looking for practical Chesed ideas yourself or want to get involved, please contact Emma Roche at eroche@theus.org.uk.