In the spring of 2021, COVID still kept many seniors shut in. JEEP was not yet allowed into many senior facilities. For a lot of Jewish seniors, Passover was going to be one more lonely week.
So JEEP brought the Seder to them. We planned for 80 Passover meals. By the time Shabbos came, we had delivered 127.
At one facility, five of the Jewish residents were over 100 years old. One woman cried.
One volunteer sat and read the Haggadah with a frail resident. “You could see his soul sparked up,” the volunteer said.
“I felt like I was part of the ‘army’ sent out to help fellow Jews wherever they are.”
A volunteer who delivered Seder meals
A long-time volunteer was struck by how far the meals had to travel: “I was taken aback by the fact that there are so many Jews in need, scattered throughout the city, in way out places that JEEP somehow finds.”
Headlights called that issue “Breaking the Chains of Isolation.” It is what JEEP tries to do at every holiday. That fall, the same kind of effort brought Rosh Hashanah dinners to isolated seniors.
You can help carry the next holiday. Drive a meal, visit a senior, or sponsor a holiday dinner.
Adapted from Headlights, Spring–Summer 2021.