Count Me In: Social Justice Initiative at the PJCC

Show Your Support and #KneelAtHome
Join our partners at JCRC and demonstrate your solidarity publicly for the Black community through the #KneelAtHome campaign. Tag #CountMeInPJCC when you post your photo.

Be an UPStander!
We have all been a bystander at one time or another. It can be uncomfortable. Often people do not respond because they do not want to be a target of abuse themselves. Raise you voice when you hear racist remarks. Standing up to racism can be a powerful sign of support. It can also make the offender think twice about their actions. When responding, always assess the situation and never put yourself at risk. Your actions do not need to involve confrontation.

Make Your Home a Safe Zone
Ten-year-old Cruz of Burlingame invites the Peninsula community to come together and put up signs of support in our windows. He says, “I want my generation to come together and be kind to each other. Love more. Smile more. I know we can stand together and see past color and see people for who they are inside. We all have beautiful skin.” Join Cruz and put a sign in your window showing your support for the Black community.

Making a Positive Impact, Locally
“What’s something simple that I can do that’ll have a positive impact on my block?” Jahmal Cole, Founder and CEO of Chicago-based “My Block, My Hood, My City,” explains how to organize and make our city a more equitable place. Read his piece for the Chicago Tribune.

Getting to Know Campaign Zero
A look at data- and research-informed policy solutions that communities can put in place to end police violence.

Talking About Race
Explore the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s online portal created to help families, individuals, and communities talk about racism and commit to being antiracist.

Supporting Jews of Color
Connect with Be’chol Lashon, Jewish Multiracial Network, Jews of Color Field Building Initiative, and other organizations elevating and centering Jews of Color.

Color of Change
Sign a petition to end violent policing against Black people.

Nationwide Bail Fund
Help support bail for protestors in your community.

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
Join a local SURJ Chapter and get engaged with the struggle for racial justice in our community.

Use Your Voice!
We can use our voices to advocate and amplify the messages and positions we support, talking about the important topics with our friends, family, and networks.

Get More Weekly Action Tips
Our partner 2 for Seder has begun to send “Weekly Action Tips” with suggestions for small, meaningful activities you can do. Each Action Tip is effective against the bigger picture of hate and anti-Semitism. Most activities are quick and the most effective ones for you will involve an activity that you are already doing. Sign up today!

Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup from Pretty Good

31 Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance

Talking With Children About Racism, Police Brutality and Protests by Laura Markham

Helping Hands Community
Want to volunteer and help someone who can’t leave their home? OR maybe you need help and can’t leave the house? Sign up online today to either be a volunteer or if you’re looking for help. It’s easy!

TOM (Tikun Olam Makers)
Join the COVID-19 Response Team. Have a 3D printer, help make face masks for distribution!
TOM (Tikun Olam Makers) is mobilizing thousands of makers, engineers, professional fabricators and healthcare professionals worldwide to generate open source health and well-being supplies for the COVID-19 Pandemic. Learn more on TOM’s website.

Five Ways You Can Make a Difference in Our Community Now

1. Donate Blood with Vitalant
We are facing an urgent shortage of blood; donors are needed. Make a life-saving appointment at Vitalant’s website. (Note: Although Vitalant is taking safety precautions, Vitalant does not test for COVID-19, so please do not give if you are sick.)

Repair the World Program
Support a cause you care about by volunteering for a project or consultation call. With over 140 different project types, there is an opportunity to give back that matches your skills and time availability. Learn more!

Volunteer with Samaritan House
Samaritan House in San Mateo needs help with food preparation and transportation. For more information, visit the Samaritan House website.

Serve with Second Harvest Food Bank
Second Harvest needs help with sorting and distribution. Visit their website for ways you can help.

Support Jewish Family and Children’s Services
JFCS needs to stock their food pantries for clients and community members who are looking for groceries. Here’s how you can donate:

• The San Mateo office is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm and groceries can be dropped at the front desk. Their address is 2001 Winward Way #200, San Mateo, 94404.
• JFCS is happy to send a volunteer to pick up groceries from your home.
• Safeway gift cards can be purchased on Amazon and e-mailed to Miriamm@JFCS.org.
• If you would like to be Food Runners or deliver groceries from their office to clients, sign up to volunteer on our online application: https://www.jfcs.org/volunteer-application.

For more information on Jewish Family & Children’s Services, go to https://www.jfcs.org

Help Secure Meals & Masks for COVID-19 Medical Workers (Bay Area)
This Facebook Group connects frontline medical workers with communities that want to encourage and support them with meals and masks during the COVID-19 Crisis. Learn more.

County of San Mateo: COVID-19 Pandemic Volunteer Opportunities
To volunteer for coordinated volunteer activities such as senior check-in calls and food distribution or delivery, please fill out the San Mateo County COVID-19 Pandemic volunteer signup form. These volunteer assignments will be organized by the City of Redwood City, County of San Mateo, or partner nonprofit agencies.

More Ways to Volunteer in San Mateo County
Looking for ways to volunteer in the county? Check out this website!

Become a Foster Parent!
There are San Mateo County children currently placed outside of the County due to a lack of local families available to foster. Help to bring these kids back to our community! Opening your heart to a child in foster care can be an amazingly rewarding experience. You can make a difference in a child’s life. Please visit www.helpsanmateokids.com to get more information on how you can help kids in need.

Volunteer to Help Animals at this Unique Time

Rescue the Underdog
Are you dog lover? Maybe now is the time to foster a dog. Rescue the Underdog is a small San Francisco based, volunteer-run organization that saves dogs from being euthanized in high kill shelters. Please know the purpose to foster a dog is to care for and help a dog learn many things they might not know yet. Learn more and complete the online Adoption Application.

Nine Lives Foundation
If you are able to provide temporary accommodation (a few weeks or months) for a cats or kittens, now is a great time! In particular, the shelter has a number of adult cats and “teenagers” that would benefit from more social interaction. Fostering also reduces the workload on shelter staff and volunteers during a time when we may face staffing shortages due to coronavirus. If you are interested in fostering, please see the information in the Fostering section on the Nine Lives website, and fill out the application form. For short-term fostering, please email fosterninelives@gmail.com. They have a list of high-priority cats that they would like to get into long-term foster homes immediately, whom you can meet by appointment on Thursdays and Fridays noon-5:30 pm at their Adoption Center. Please call 650-368-1365 to schedule an appointment. Learn more about Nine Lives Foundation.

Make Friendly Calls to Older Adults

Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly—San Francisco Bay Area is currently in need of volunteers to help them in making friendly phone calls to over 400 of their older adults. Learn more.

Virtual Volunteer Opportunities

Have a little time on your hands? Check out Catch a Fire, an online portal for virtual volunteer opportunities! Whether you have an afternoon or several, you can help a not-for-profit organization with tasks like writing thank you letters or editing photos. Learn more.

If you’re looking to take your online volunteering worldwide, this is the place to start. UN Volunteers connects you with organizations working for peace and development in need of skills like research, writing, art, and design. There are already over 12,000 volunteers from 187 countries lending their talents to organizations around the globe. Learn more.

Take Part in Census 2020

Everyone counts! You can learn more about Census 2020 & get counted today at https://cmo.smcgov.org/census-2020-san-mateo-county

At-Home Activity for Families

Have your child make a picture or write a note to your healthcare professional thanking them. Email them the sentiment.

Ways to Show Up for Your Community in These Tough Times

As shared by Former First Lady Michelle Obama

• Contact your local school district and sign up to volunteer with their food distribution program. Know a teacher or two? Reach out and ask how you can help.
• Call the parents you know who are figuring out this new normal – offer to give their kids a lesson or read or story.
• Offer to pick up groceries for your most at-risk and older neighbors by leaving a note on their door. Search online and get involved with neighborhood groups that may already be assisting (like Nextdoor).
• Call your local hospital or fire station and ask if you can order takeout for staff from a local restaurant or donate to a restaurant that are already offering free meals to first responders and families in need.
• If you’re able, buy gift certificates from your favorite local businesses and save them for later, or give them as gifts right now to your grocery store cashier, mail carrier, or anyone else providing vital services in your community.
• If you’re able, send payments to your hairstylist, barber, housecleaner, and nail technician as if you were keeping your appointments.
• Order takeout or delivery on the night you used to eat out and tip big to your delivery person.

We Are In This Together!
Read about ways you make a difference for those in need from our friends at the Points of Light Foundation.

Suggested Reading

“4 Ways To Shape Your Volunteering In Uncertain Times”
Did you know: giving back is good for your health! Read this helpful article and consider how you might support volunteer efforts during this unique time.

IsraAID’s Interactive Self Care Webinar: 12 Ways to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Co-created by IsraAID, Israel’s leading humanitarian aid organization, this free 45-minute experiential self-care/mental health online session provides practical strategies and resources to improve your emotional well-being. Since 2001, IsraAID has been providing mental health/psychosocial support to communities following disasters and crises. The webinars are facilitated by mental health professionals who have deployed with IsraAID worldwide.
Multiple times and dates available. To sign up, visit IsraAID’s registration page for the event.

IsraAid Humanitarian Professionals Network Speakers Series

Are you interested in humanitarian relief, international development and disaster response? Join the IsraAID Humanitarian Professionals Network (IHPN)!

IsraAID’s Humanitarian Professionals Network is an international collective concerned with local and global humanitarian aid, and with IsraAID’s recovery work. Members receive briefings and trainings on humanitarian relief, international development and disaster response topics from Israeli experts.

Founded in 2001, IsraAID has done emergency rescue and recovery work in 51 countries, helping disaster-stricken regions with medical care, water and sanitation, education and other forms of humanitarian aid.

• Gain Knowledge: Increase your understanding of the humanitarian aid landscape, disaster preparedness and related topics.
• Be Prepared: Understand how to respond to disasters. Gain access to expert trainings, briefings and workshops from IsraAID experts on the ground.
• Network: Make connections with like-minded professionals committed to making an impact.
• Volunteer: Learn about deployment opportunities with IsraAID.

To learn more about the IHPN Speakers’ Series, please contact Michele Solomon at msolomon@pjcc.org

In partnership with IsraAID, the OFJCC, PJCC and Peninsula congregations.

Check back soon for information on upcoming lectures.