Get ready for Mitzvah Madness: It’s better than March Madness, and hoops are not involved.
NowGen Nashville is organizing a month of opportunities to do a mitzvah, starting with three projects on Sun., Feb. 26, and continuing through March. NowGen Nashville is a resource for the local young adult Jewish community, supported by the Jewish Federation of Nashville.
“It’s important for our generation to give back in a hands-on way,” said Joel Abramson, the Federation’s community engagement associate. Other Jewish communities have held similar months of community service, and NowGen Nashville decided to get on board. “What we have is time and energy,” he continued. “It’s a really easy way for our generation to give back.”
To sweeten the deal, NowGen Nashville is holding a Mitzvah Madness Kickoff Party later on Sun., Feb. 26, at Strategic Hospitality’s Aerial Nashville, 411 Broadway. You must participate in a Mitzvah Madness service project, be at least 21 years old and bring a canned good to attend. The party runs from 4-6 p.m. and includes food, live music and drinks.
Here are the three projects set for Feb. 26:
Cemetery Clean-up, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the collective cemeteries of Congregation Sherith Israel, West End Synagogue and The Temple – Congregation Ohabai Sholom, located at 2001 15th Avenue North in North Nashville. This project involves maintenance work and participants are asked to bring work gloves, rakes, garbage bags, buckets and sponges, if possible.
Tie-Blanket project, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Vanderbilt Hillel in the Ben Schulman Center for Jewish Life, 2421 Vanderbilt Place. Participants will make blankets for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. If you can, please bring scissors and fleece 36 x 36 inches or larger.
Akiva project (Jmingle only), 1-3 p.m. at Akiva School, 809 Percy Warner Boulevard. Jmingle and Hillel seniors will paint fences, wash classrooms and pull weeds.
Additional projects are in the works for March: three Room at the Inn evenings at The Temple, in which volunteers cook and serve food for homeless guests and optionally stay the night; packing Kosher Food Boxes at the Gordon Jewish Community Center for those in need; and a blood drive for college students at Vanderbilt Hillel’s Schulman Center, co-sponsored by Vanderbilt Hillel and the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
To register for service opportunities, go to nowgennashville.org. Full information on all of the projects is available there, and you can contact joel@jewishnashville.org for more information.