IHC counts on all of our members to help us be successful.
Please find a way to volunteer, whether joining a committee or task force, signing up to help in the office or with special projects, working an event etc. Volunteering is a great way to meet other members and build friendships!
Tikkun Olam
One of the pillars of IHC today, and throughout our 160+ year history, is our commitment to Tikkun Olam – our responsibility to repair the world. Our rabbis have been leaders in the civil rights movement, and our congregants have championed social justice. Today, our members participate in a variety of ways to make our congregation and Indianapolis a better place for all its citizens, particularly those in need.
Caring Community of IHC
We are a team of caring and compassionate individuals who desire to fulfill our Jewish responsibility to perform deeds of loving kindness by serving the needs of our IHC families.
Our Caring Community volunteers can provide:
- A meal during illness
- A ride to and from synagogue events
- A friendly phone call
- A postcard to brighten someone’s day
- High Holy Days distribution of cards and prayer books
- Computer help with Zoom or streaming
- IHC Library Book Loan program
To let us know if you would like our assistance or volunteer to help, please contact ihc.caringcommunity@gmail.com
Consider a Donation
If you cannot volunteer at this time or you simply want to make a donation to help pursue justice in our community and our world, please click here to make a donation.
IHC Mitzvah Projects
Our IHC Mitzvah Projects continue to shape our soul. They are centered in three major areas: hunger, homelessness, and families in need. Whether it is collecting, sorting, sharing, doing, cooking, serving, or just helping, we are committed to bettering our world by starting with our community.
Families in Need
Community Collections
Throughout the year we invite you to bring your new or gently-used clothes, toys, and household items to help families in need in the Indianapolis community. Previous collections have benefited the Crooked Creek Multi-Service Center, Family Promise, Coburn Place and the Julian Center.
Select Food items are collected for the Greenbriar School Project, Popsie’s Pantry, Second Helpings and Gleaners.
Hunger
Sisterhood’s Greenbriar Projects
Sisterhood’s Partnership with Greenbriar Elementary School focuses on caring for our most vulnerable in our community: kids. The Food Bag Project collects specific food and prepares bags of food for kids to take home so they have food during school breaks. The Bundle Up The Grizzlies Project purchases warm winter coats for the kids. The Thanksgiving Basket Project provides all of the fixings and more so families in need can enjoy a bountiful Thanksgiving meal. The Book Project collects new gently used books so that each student can select a book and each teacher receives a set of books. If you are interested in helping with any of these projects, please contact Bennie Silver, Sisterhood’s Social Action VP.
Popsie’s Pantry
Popsie’s Pantry supports individuals and families living in the northwest quadrant of Indianapolis who experience food insecurity, regardless of religion, race, nationality, ethnic group, or gender. Clients schedule individual appointments and can choose from a variety of foods, fresh produce, cleaning supplies and toiletries as well as from a large kosher-foods section.
Second Helpings
Second Helpings rescues prepared and perishable food, re-prepares it into nutritious meals, and distributes those meals to more than 90 social services organizations that feed hungry people in greater Indianapolis. Second Helpings also uses some of the rescued food to train disadvantaged adults for careers in the culinary field, helping to eliminate hunger at its source. Since 1998, Second Helpings has collected sixteen million pounds of food and provided 12 million meals to partner agencies.
In addition, more than 800 adults have graduated from its Culinary Job Training Program. Many IHC members volunteer their time at Second Helpings preparing meals, delivering food to the various social service agencies, or working with food trainees to help relieve hunger in the greater Indianapolis area. Please consider joining IHC and other community volunteers in the kitchen.
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Inc.
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Inc., was founded in a three-and-a-half-car garage in 1980. Ever since it has grown as hunger has grown—fighting the crisis in central Indiana every step of the way. Its mission is simple and direct: To end hunger by engaging individuals and communities to provide food for people in need.
Ultimately, Gleaners reaches thousands of people who need assistance. They are the working poor, the unemployed, single parents, and the elderly. They are the homeless, the disabled, the mentally ill. They are battered women, victims of disaster, and helpless children. They are families, friends, and neighbors throughout Indiana.
Homelessness
Family Promise
Family Promise provides temporary shelter, meals, and supportive services to single parents and married couples with children. Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation is among the more than thirty hosting congregations that open their doors to support families in crisis.
Four times a year, IHC hosts families who find themselves temporarily homeless. Volunteers are responsible for the coordination of van drivers, assembling temporary bedrooms, laundry, food preparation, housekeeping, recreational activities, and overnight hosting. In addition, volunteers provide invaluable fellowship and encouragement to families.
Dinners at Dayspring Center
The Dayspring Center was founded in 1986 to provide emergency shelter, clothing, and three meals a day for homeless families with children in Central Indiana. Volunteers from IHC provide and serve monthly Sunday dinners for Dayspring residents. On the first Sunday of each month, bring a dish and help serve a nice Sunday dinner for the guests at this family homeless shelter from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. To find out more about Dinners at the Dayspring Center, please contact Jackie Suess.
Habitat for Humanity
Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat for Humanity builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses alongside our homeowner partner families. Help us raise the money for a congregation-wide build then grab your hammer, saw, and pliers and start building.