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MAZON’s thousands of donors support its anti-hunger work on numerous occasions and in countless ways. These donors make every day special by reaffirming their commitment to building a more just society.
These are just some of the creative endeavors MAZON supporters have undertaken as a means of sanctifying the every day.
Afikoman Find:
Ask the person that has found the Passover afikoman to give a portion of his/her gift to tzedakah.
Bake Sale:
Have parents or congregants donate baked goods for a bake sale. Send proceeds to MAZON as tzedakah, and donate any leftover goods to your local food bank or food pantry.
Benefit Movie/Play/Concert:
A local theater might screen a movie as a benefit for MAZON. Similarly, a local playhouse or musician may be willing to donate proceeds from a performance to a worthy cause.
Book Sale:
Collect books from congregants, or solicit donations from a local bookstore, and then sell the books to benefit MAZON.
Buy a Can, Donate a Can:
Ask congregants to donate canned goods for a canned food sale; proceeds can be sent to MAZON, and the canned food donated to a local food bank or food pantry.
Chanukah Dinner:
As the year draws to an end, hold a formal synagogue dinner that features a guest speaker from MAZON.
Crafts Fair:
Give a local artist the opportunity to display his/her artwork at the synagogue or JCC. Advertise that a percentage of the entrance fee or artwork sold will go to benefit hunger relief and MAZON.
Dinner Without Dinner:
MAZON can provide detailed materials about this event, which involves planning a formal dinner where no food is served. Proceeds from tickets sold for the event can be sent to MAZON.
Family Farm:
As a family activity, parents organize a trip to a local farm, where they can help farmers pick produce. Ask farmers to donate a percentage of the picked fruits and vegetables in support of hunger relief.
Garden of Eatin’:
Set up a vegetable/fruit garden at a synagogue or school. Donate the fruits and vegetables to a local food bank or sell them and send the proceeds to MAZON.
Gift Shop:
Ask the synagogue gift shop to donate 3% of their proceeds to MAZON.
Hunger Banquet:
This is a dramatization of the unequal distribution of resources in the world. A group of participants that have all paid the same entrance fee are divided at random into three separate groups and are given three separate types of meals, from the extravagant to the spare.
Mitzvah Basket/Mishloach Manot Delivery:
As an alternative to decorating the sanctuary with flower arrangements for special events, fill baskets with non-perishable food items and use them as decorative adornments. After the simcha, ask congregants to deliver the food to a local food-related charity. If a professional delivery service is used, ask the company to waive its delivery fee and instead donate the money as tzedakah.
Purim Lottery:
Have participants buy a lottery ticket in which each “prize” is the privilege to make a charitable donation. The “prizes” can range from $2.00 to $200.00. This “reversed lottery” is appropriate for a Purim party in which role reversals are celebrated.
Shabbat Fund:
Have synagogue members pay into an annual Shabbat Fund. This pool of money can then be donated to a charity that alleviates suffering on Shabbat and every day.
Three-in-One Lesson:
Place a tzedakah box in each classroom. Ask students to contribute according to the following schedule: On the 5th day of the month, a nickel; on the 10th day of the month, a dime; and on the 25th day, a quarter. At the end of the year, the contents of the tzedakah box can be donated to MAZON.
Tikkun Olam Project:
Ask children to pick a social action project to research and participate in throughout the year. Projects can range from Jewish senior outreach to rehabilitation of people with physical disabilities to making a difference in the fight against hunger through MAZON.
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