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This Passover, Join Us in Supporting Over 130 Jewish Households

This Friday, April 11th, Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay (JFCS East Bay) will deliver 220 Seder meals to over 130 households as part of our East Bay Jewish Community Safety Net program — a vital service that has been a cornerstone of our community for nearly 150 years.

Honoring Yom HaShoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day

We will also be observing Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) on April 22nd, remembering the lives and legacies of Holocaust survivors and their families.

Passover: A Time for Connection and Care

For older adults who are isolated, celebrating Passover can be a challenge. Collecting the ingredients, cooking, and feeling the love of community is not always easy for those who are homebound.

Each Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Hanukkah, JFCS East Bay partners with community members, schools, and synagogues to deliver everything needed for a Seder meal, from Seder plates to holiday meals, candles, and heartfelt holiday wishes from local children.

The Power of Volunteers: Connecting with Our Community

Volunteers play a key role, checking in on over 200 Jewish community members who will be celebrating Passover alone. This is an opportunity for our community to come together and ensure that these often invisible members are seen, cared for, and supported.

Support Our Jewish Community Safety Net

This Passover, we need your help to continue this important work. Your generosity will be matched — up to $36,000 — by a collective of dedicated JFCS East Bay donors, ensuring that we can continue to bring holiday meals and vital support to homes across the East Bay.

Jewish Community Safety Net: Key Programs and Services

The Jewish Community Safety Net is designed to help stabilize Jewish community members going through difficult times. Our program offers:

  • Food Delivery
    Weekly Shabbat meals and 220 Holiday Meals delivered at Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Hanukkah to homebound older adults. For households with special needs, we provide grocery shopping and delivery services.
  • Emergency Financial Assistance
    Micro-grants to assist with basic needs, such as food, housing, utilities, medical care, home care, and transportation.

  • Information & Navigation Services
    We connect clients to resources and referrals for additional community support.

  • Benefits Enrollment Assistance
    Help with applying for unemployment insurance, Medi-Cal, CalFresh food assistance, and other benefits.

  • Mental Health Services
    Offering psychotherapy, crisis intervention, short-term counseling, and access to longer-term psychiatric care through phone or video chat.

A Legacy of Care: 1912 to Today

JFCS East Bay’s meal deliveries trace back to 1912, when the Daughters of Israel Relief Society’s Fruit & Flower Mission began delivering weekly baskets of food, flowers, and essential items to widowed women and single-parent families in Oakland. We are proud to continue this tradition of Jewish community care to this day.

Make a Difference Today

Your support ensures that we can continue to provide meals, emergency financial assistance, and mental health services to those in need.

Your gift will be matched up to $36,000!

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Spread the kindness today!

Volunteer Services is collecting Gift Cards of all types and other items from our Amazon Gift Registry to support over 300 families by December.

This list was carefully compiled based on what our clients have requested the most. We are grateful for any contribution!