Congregation B’nai B’rith’s will celebrate the spirit of gratitude and giving back during its annual Mitzvah Day on Sunday.
Doors at the Santa Barbara congregation, 1000 San Antonio Creek Road, will open for breakfast at 8:30 a.m., with the welcome address at 9:30 a.m., and projects will begin at 10 a.m. In partnership with many local nonprofits, a dozen goodwill projects will take place at Congregation B’nai B’rith and throughout the Santa Barbara area.
Mitzvah is a Jewish tenet offering guidance on “how to live a good and meaningful life.” Mitzvah Day allows all generations in the Congregation B’nai B’rith community to come together, help others, strengthen the community and engage in acts of kindness, according to a news release.
All events will be held outdoors and follow COVID safety protocols. Events will be held in person at CBB, including at off-site locations.
On-site events include:
— Saving Lives: donating blood and helping to replenish the local blood banks.
— The Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation: Create a “Good Night Kit”: pillow, fairy lights lamp, teddy bear, and more to gift to children fighting cancer.
— Lunch for the hungry: Assembling lunch bags and basic needs items to be delivered to the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission.
— Scrap-booking for dreamers: When a dreamer passes away, the Dream Foundation commits to make a beautiful and colorful page to remember the dream they fulfilled, and offer a wonderful memento for their families.
— Animal Mitzvah: Build and paint bird feeders, and organize donated blankets to be delivered to the Santa Maria Animal Center, which is part of Santa Barbara County Animal Services.
— Recognizing healthcare workers: Bake cookies and make cards to deliver to 350 Cottage Hospital workers who volunteered to vaccinate people throughout the pandemic
— Unity Shoppe: Helping assemble bags for kids and adults struggling to make ends meet.
— Operation Gratitude: Helping make paracord bracelets that are added to care packages and have proven to be life-saving.
Off-Site projects include:
— Tree Gleaning: Joining other nature lovers to glean private homes trees and donate all the produce to Unity Shoppe.
— Beach Clean Up: Cleaning downtown beaches to protect the sea animals.
The Mitzvah Day Committee chair is Annie Kempe, and the steering committee members are Florie Wachtenheim, Julie Wood and Leah Weissbuch.
Sponsors include Montecito Bank & Trust, Costco, Sunny Smiles, Trader Joe’s, Albertsons, Sprouts and Ralphs.
For more information, visit cbbsb.org.
— kzehnder@newspress.com
