“Let all who are hungry come and eat” is not just a part of the Passover Haggadah – it’s a community imperative.
Every Jewish community is obligated to ensure that everyone has the food they need to celebrate a joyous Passover, and this year – as in years past – Portland’s Jewish community is stepping up. The Maot Chittim Project – literally “Money for Wheat” – again will be collecting donations to ensure that area families can truly celebrate Passover.
“We really want this to be a community event,” says Michael Rosenberg of Congregation Kesser Israel, who has organized the food drive in cooperation with Jewish Family and Child Service for nearly two decades. In recent years, other congregations, Portland Jewish Academy and other groups have pitched in to expand the project’s reach. Begun as a project of the now-disbanded Jewish Boy Scout troop, the Maot Chittim Project last year provided kosher-for-Passover food boxes for some 115 families in the greater Portland area. Marian Fenimore, JFCS executive director, estimates this year’s need to be about the same.
“This community effort has special meaning to many Jews who do not have the means to have a Seder,” Fenimore said. “Several clients have called in past years to say how much the Passover box meant to them.” The boxes usually include at least 10 pounds of potatoes, three dozen eggs, five pounds of matzah, a frozen kosher chicken, soup mix, wine – and haggadahs.Donations are needed to help cover the costs of the project – and drivers and volunteers are needed to help as- semble and deliver the boxes. Assembly and de- livery will be on Sunday, March 17, beginning about 9:30 a.m. at the Portland Kollel, 6688 SW Capitol Hwy. The first seder begins at sundown on Monday, March 25.
PASSOVER FOOD BOXES
Tax-deductible donations may be sent to: Passover Food Boxes/Maot Chittim c/o 10220 SW Nimbus Ave., Suite K-2 Tigard, OR 97223
To volunteer, contact Michael Horenstein at michael@horenstein.info or 503-245-7212.
Check the JFCS website for additional details: jfcs-portland.org
