Serving Up Good Cheer

Photograph by Robert Kusel

The bright lights and cheerful bustle of the year-end holiday season often mask the fact that for many people, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day can be a sad and lonely one.

For the past three years, hundreds of Jewish volunteers in Chicago have set aside time during those weeks to visit the sick and elderly, distribute toys, or deliver and serve meals to help brighten the holiday season for needy city residents. They help out at more than 30 nonprofit groups — packing holiday baskets for the Salvation Army, serving meals at local soup kitchens, socializing with residents of nursing homes or other facilities, and even swinging a hammer for Habitat for Humanity.

“A lot of younger people today want to take action personally, not just write a check,” says Brian Abrahams, who chairs the volunteer program at the Jewish United Fund.

That program’s Merry Mitzvot Project (“mitzvot” are good deeds) lets families participate together in volunteer activities, many of which accept helpers as young as 10, 8, or even 5 years old.

In some cases, the assistance allows Christian volunteers and staff members to spend more time with their families during the Christmas season. Volunteers for Catholic Charities return the favor at Passover, helping out at various Jewish charities during that holy period.

Here, volunteers lend a hand at Uptown Café, a kosher anti-hunger program run under the auspices of the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago.