Bringing the Holiday Home: Delivering Passover Joy to Isolated Older Adults
Supporting Our Community
Take Time to Reflect
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. This solemn day is dedicated to honoring the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust, as well as the countless others who suffered under Nazi persecution. We take this time to reflect on the strength, resilience, and legacy of Holocaust survivors and their families, and to reaffirm our collective commitment to standing up against hatred, antisemitism, and injustice in all its forms.
4/24 City of Berkeley 22nd Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Program (online)
JFCS East Bay is honored to co-host the City of Berkeley’s Holocaust Remembrance Day VirtualProgram on April 24th at 2:00 p.m. This meaningful event brings our community together to remember, reflect, and honor the lives lost in the Holocaust. Registration required.
Critical Conversations: Financial Hardships in Our Jewish Community
Join Spertus Institute for its 2025 Critical Conversations panel discussion, where leading experts will explore the often-overlooked issue of economic vulnerability within Jewish communities. Be part of this important dialogue on the realities, challenges, and solutions
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!
