CROS Ministries members Carolina Martinez, 27, (left) of West Palm Beach and Tracy Tenore, 28, (right)
of Boynton Beach paint the house of Delray Beach resident Willie Lee Thomas, 89, with the help
of SonCoast Church member Dot Bast (center) of Delray Beach during ‘Curb Appeal by the Block 2013.’
Kurtis Boggs/The Coastal Star
Cafe Esperanza catering student Alex Depas (right) serves hors d’oeuvres to George Taylor
and Noreen Burpee Salah at the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce lunch.
Photo provided
Dr. Allen Bezner of Highland Beach, who later received the Maimonides’ Physicians Award from Chabad
of East Boca, sits next to Marjory Bitson and Alan Bergstein in the front row during
Chabad’s bar mitzvah at Mizner Park.
Photo by Lisa Nalven
By Tim Pallesen
Boca Helping Hands is getting a helping hand from the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce in its new job-training initiative to fight poverty.
Café Esperanza — a new catering service that provides training to the unemployed — started by catering a lunch for new Chamber members.
“Everything was delicious,” Chamber President Troy McLellan proclaimed afterward. He encouraged others to try the catering service, too.
Boca Helping Hands, an interfaith effort known primarily for its soup kitchen and food pantry, graduated its first 10 catering students on April 10.
Students go through three phases of training to gain hospitality industry experience and prepare for restaurant jobs.
“We are taking bold steps to break the crippling cycle of poverty that grips so many families,” Helping Hands executive director James Gavrilos said.
Gavrilos said he was particularly proud to have the Chamber as Café Esperanza’s first client.
“Only when the business community and the nonprofit community come together can we effectively wage the war on poverty,” he said. “We hope the business community will consider using Café Esperanza for their staff lunches, business breakfasts and team-building dinners.”
The Chamber has more than 1,300 businesses as members. McLellan said he hoped being the first client would give “a comfort level” for others.
“Our message was that we’re using them and you should, too,” he said.
Mayor Susan Whelchel, a guest at the March 12 luncheon, also applauded the food.
“I thought it was absolutely outstanding,” the mayor said. “I will use them the next time I need a caterer.”
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Roxane Lipton was searching for a purpose 10 years ago when she moved from New York City to Boca Raton.
“I didn’t play golf. I didn’t play cards. I needed something to do,” she said.
So Lipton joined the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County and met with a small group of women in her home to discuss an idea.
A decade later, the Jewish Women’s Foundation that Lipton founded has given $560,000 in grants to help Jewish women and children here and around the world.
“Women loved the idea of being able to give to other women and children,” Lipton said. “We found that women face similar problems all over the world.”
Sixty women each give $2,000 each year and then decide the most worthy causes that will receive their money.
“We work collaboratively to fund our commitments and engage in a lively and stimulating evaluation process to allocate our resources,” foundation chair Mara Reuben said.
“Our understanding of the challenges confronting Jewish women and children, locally and globally, has deepened along with our resolve to impact their lives and future,” Reuben said.
The foundation received 80 grant proposals this year. Three local programs that received grants were iPads for Autism, the PJ Library and Let’s Get Healthy.
The iPads library lending program is a cutting edge way to educate women and children with autism to unlock their potential. The PJ Library (see item below) teaches the tenets of Judaism through children’s books. The third program provides nutrition counseling to 20 single women who receive food from the Jacobson Family Food Pantry.
Women in Israel received grants to complete college, excel in science and technology, and run successful campaigns for elective offices.
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Jewish children in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach are getting free books in the mail.
The books from PJ Library celebrate Jewish culture, values and tradition. Registration is under way for 3,000 families with children ages 6 months to 8 years to receive books in their mailboxes each month.
To promote the opportunity, nearly 50,000 sample books were mailed out last month. The books come with a resource guide to help parents share the experience.
PJ stands for pajamas. Joanna Drowos, a physician and mother to two preschoolers, launched the book giveaway in South Palm Beach County with other mothers.
“PJ Library provides families with the perfect platform to spent time together, combing Jewish values with a love of reading,” Drowos said. “I can’t think of a better way to engage young Jewish families and strengthen our community now and for the future.”
Parents can contact library director Elana Ostroff at (561) 852-6080 or go to www.pjlibrary.org to register.
“This extraordinary program will help us embrace and engage the next generation,” library chairwoman Ilene Wohlgemuth said.
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Worship by The Avenue Church is now a tradition at the largest annual festivals in downtown Delray Beach, their organizer says.
Nancy Stewart, who organizes Delray Affair and Garlic Fest, says vendors hesitated to work Sundays when she first expanded the festivals into three-day events. Then she included The Avenue Church worship service on stage at Old School Square on Sunday mornings.
“A lot of people have told me it was a blessing to them. They had struggled over whether to participate in our events,” Stewart said. “Now it’s become a tradition that The Avenue Church uses the main stage at Old School Square for all the events we do.”
Church volunteers washed dishes at Garlic Festival this year and participated in other downtown events that Stewart organizes for the Chamber of Commerce.
Senior pastor Casey Cleveland is delighted by the opportunity.
“Jesus was always with the people,” he said. “We want to go as Christ went.”
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More than 1,000 people braved pouring rain to celebrate a bar mitzvah at Mizner Park Amphitheater for the synagogue that’s become a vibrant center of Jewish life in East Boca Raton.
Chabad of East Boca, the only synagogue east of Federal Highway, drew a March 20 crowd with the first Boca Raton appearance of Mordechai Ben David, a popular Hasidic singer and songwriter.
“Rather than celebrate our bar mitzvah year with a dinner that limits participation, we wanted to do something that would bring the greater community together,” Rabbi Ruvi New said. “Nothing does it quite like music.”
Ethan Bortnick, 12, the youngest entertainer to headline a Las Vegas show, also performed. The Freilach Orchestra and Shira Choir flew from New York City to join in.
The synagogue presented 15 awards for outstanding contributions to the Boca Raton community. Howard Kaye received the Community Service Award. The Kosher Market Place was judged best for kosher quality.
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Jewish music returns to the Mizner Park Amphitheater on May 19 for a 65th anniversary celebration to honor the state of Israel.
The Maccabeats are young men who perform a cappella, with a fan base of more than 10 million views on YouTube. Israeli folk dancers from the Donna Klein Jewish Academy also will perform.
Children’s activities at the free event start an hour before the 4 p.m. stage show. Organizers expect thousands to attend.
Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.
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