Buy one, bin one

Posted

Eliezer Project partners with JCC to help food pantry

By Yaffi Spodek

Issue of June 26, 2009 / 4Tammuz 5769

On your next grocery run, be on the lookout for the newest item now on display at local supermarkets — a bin to collect canned and boxed

non-perishable food items for donation to a food pantry.

The Eliezer Project has teamed up with the Jewish Community Center of the greater Five Towns in an effort to replenish the JCC food pantry, which has suffered from an increase in demand and a decrease in donations. By strategically placing bins in several local supermarkets, both organizations hope to assist needy neighbors who cannot afford to pay for kosher food.

“We are instituting a program in which we will be placing receptacles

past the checkout counter of each of the main food purveyors in the

community, and patrons will be encouraged to donate food specifically

purchased to be deposited into the bin,” explained Sam Bergman,

executive director of The Eliezer Project. “We are hoping it will make

a serious contribution to the needs of our clients and the rest of the

community.”

“The growing number of families in crisis makes this an absolute

necessity,” said Rina Shkolnik, executive director of the JCC. “We

hope our neighbors give generously and that the word gets out to the

families that truly need this assistance.”

Signs posted at the entrance of each store will notify and remind

customers of the project, advertised as ‘buy one, bin one.’

“The food pantry is not a secret,” noted Bergman, “and we’re hoping

this project will heighten awareness of the need to contribute food,

but also of the existence of the food pantry for those who are buying

food but might prefer getting it for free.”

The bins, scheduled to be in place by Thursday, June 25, will be

located in Brach’s, Glatt Kosher Kingdom, Gourmet Glatt, Kosher World

and Supersol. “Each of these stores enthusiastically agreed to

participate,” said Bergman.

The Eliezer Project has  also recruited volunteers to work together

with the JCC staff to pick up the donated items and deliver them to

the JCC food pantry, where they will be sorted and distributed each

week.

The ‘buy one, bin one’ initiative is just one of several ways in

which the Eliezer Project tries to helps its clients — unemployed or

underemployed breadwinners who need financial assistance. Now totaling

close to 140, the client base of The Eliezer Project has increased

over the last few months.

“We now see between four to six new unemployed people every week and

two to three clients in other services we provide,” said Bergman.

“It’s been getting a little more dire. We are meeting with people who

have been out of work even longer. This is sort of the next stage,

where there is greater incidence and closer threats of house

foreclosures. As the crisis continues unabated, the impact on people

who are let go  — people with businesses, not just employees — and who

have seen a severe decline in income has become even more egregious

with the passage of time, while they managed for a few months, but now

it gets tighter.”

The Eliezer Project is now offering full or partial subsidies to

clients on a limited basis. The subsidies will be provided for

specific purposes such as the a professional or vocational retraining

programs; the obtainment of advanced degrees or certifications;

premiums for low-cost  health insurance; emergency utility payments;

and temporary children’s day-care services used in connection with job

searches.

Several clients have gotten jobs and made valuable contacts through

the organization. “I see an uptick in hiring and there seems to be a

few more employers hiring, although everyone is still cautious,”

observed Ellen Aronovitz, the employment director. “They are starting

to hire the people they need for their business so that gives me a

little more optimism.”

Even those clients who haven’t found suitable work yet are benefiting

in other ways from workshops and seminars offered by The Eliezer

Project, and from one-on-one meetings with the staff, which also

includes financial manager Esthy  Hersch.

“My belief is that every meeting and every contact is valuable but no

person or organization comes close to what I have gained from the

Eliezer Project, and specifically Ellen Aronovitz,” said one client,

who did not wish to be named. “Please note that this is a compliment

to Ellen, but I wonder when she sleeps.”

Other clients praised the organization’s “wonderful e-mails with job

opportunities and helpful articles” and “the amazing quality of jobs”

available to them through The Eliezer Project.

“Sometime people wait a little bit before they come to us, and then

when things are not progressing, they say, ‘Let me try The Eliezer

Project,’” explained Aronovitz. “We’re another resource for them.”

The organization is still relying on the community to donate funds

and notify them of jobs or other services that may be suitable for

their clients.

To reach The Eliezer Project, call (516) 284-2942 or visit their web

site,  www.eliezerproject.org.