The Hustle to End Hunger 5K, sponsored by CROS Ministries, is Oct. 7. ABOVE: The 2022 preparations. Photo provided
No matter how well the economy does, hunger does not go away.
According to the Palm Beach County Food Bank, nearly 160,000 people in our wealthy county are food-insecure. That means they’re not getting adequate nutrition. That means they’re hungry. And more than 50,000 of those people are kids younger than 18.
You can help.
CROS Ministries’ annual Hustle to End Hunger 5K takes place at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 7 at John Prince Park, 2700 Sixth Ave. S., in Lake Worth Beach. All of the proceeds benefit CROS Ministries, which has served the hungry in Palm Beach and Martin counties for 45 years.
Its food pantries, the gleaning food-recovery program, its Caring Kitchen hot meal program and summer camp for children from families with low incomes are just some of the programs that help our neighbors.
Registration for the Hustle is $40 per person until Sept. 6, then it’s $45. An untimed walk option and a virtual option are available. Register at www.adventuresignup.com/Race/FL/LakeWorth/Hustle2EndHunger5K.
CROS Ministries is also looking for volunteers for the Delray Beach Pantry/Neighborhood Resource Center at 141 SW 12th Ave. Volunteers are needed to check in clients on a computer and to pack bags of food weighing 25 pounds. Training is provided.
Contact Juanita Goode at jgoode@crosministries.org or 561-699-5113.
To contact CROS Ministries, call 561-233-9009 or visit www.crosministries.org
First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach’s Pennies from Heaven program has been fighting hunger 1 cent at a time since 2012. Lately, the organizers say, they’ve noticed that many families are experiencing food insecurity for the first time.
Rising costs for housing and insurance, water and electricity — and just about everything else — are taking a toll even on middle-class families earning decent wages.
According to the United Way of Palm Beach County, hunger is happening behind the closed doors of nice houses with nice cars in the driveway.
First Presbyterian began asking its parishioners to collect 5 cents for each meal eaten during the month and to donate that money to Pennies from Heaven on the last Sunday. The money collected goes directly to funding food programs in the community and supporting members of the congregation experiencing hard times.
In those 11 years, from the beginning of 2012 through 2022, the church collected more than $58,000. During the early pandemic, it took a break and collected only $2,500 for 2020 and 2021 combined. But in 2023, the church has already collected nearly $4,000.
This is an easy, painless way to help your neighbors, participants say.
Consider putting aside a few pennies and donating them to First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, to your own church, to the charity of your choice or the Palm Beach County Food Bank.
First Presbyterian is at 33 Gleason St. https://firstdelray.com/ or 561-276-6338.
Contact the Palm Beach County Food Bank at 561-670-2518 or www.pbcfoodbank.org.
Shana Tovah! (Have a sweet year!)
September is an important month for Judaism with both Rosh Hashanah (the new year) and Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) being celebrated. These highest of the High Holidays are marked with services at local temples, chabads and synagogues.
The celebratory Rosh Hashanah begins Sept. 15, and the solemn Yom Kippur begins Sept. 24. The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which is the holiest day of the year, are called the Days of Awe and are supposed to be a time for candid self-reflection.
The High Holidays’ themes of forgiveness and repentance mark a time of healing, fasting and breaking the fast with special meals and prayers.
Shmuel Biston of Chabad of East Delray says this is the perfect time to both ask for forgiveness and freely forgive others. It’s a time to evaluate ourselves as spiritual people, to look back over the year and ask how we did — not at earning money but in a spiritual sense.
These subjects are the focal point of the holiday worship services, including Rabbi Barry Silver’s “alternative to the traditional High Holy Day services.”
Silver, who has served Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor in Palm Beach County since 1996, founded “Cosmic Judaism,” which he calls “a wonderful new phase of religious evolution, guided by the prophets of old and the science of today.”
Based on the teachings of great Jewish and scientific thinkers and carrying on the traditions of his father, Rabbi Sam Silver, Barry Silver promotes interfaith harmony and “rational Judaism.”
They revere the Albert Einstein’s quote, “Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind,” which is at the core of Cosmic Judaism. Silver claims Cosmic Judaism will “replace walls of ignorance, conflict and hate with bridges of reason, understanding and love.”
Silver will lead his congregation’s High Holiday services at the Movies of Delray, 7421 W. Atlantic Ave. Tickets are $95, free for children younger than 18, available online at www.ldorvador.org.
For more information about Cosmic Judaism, visit www.rabbibarrysilver.com/rabbi-barry-s-writings/cosmic-judaism.
Volunteers needed for Diocesan Convention
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Delray Beach is looking for volunteers to help with the Diocesan Convention 2023 on Oct. 27-28 at the Chapel of Saint Andrew in Boca Raton.
More than 40 volunteers are needed for the registration desk, to be ushers and servers and fill several other jobs. If you can help, contact Father Paul Kane at revpaul@stpaulsdelray.org.
Knights of Columbus retreat set at St. Lucy
Father Brian Horgan and St. Lucy Catholic Church welcome the Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, on Sept. 23 for the St. Padre Pio Retreat.
The Knights of Columbus, with more than 1.6 million members worldwide, is dedicated to charity above all else. The more members it has, the more good deeds it can do, so the Knights of Columbus is always looking for members.
Tickets are $25 and include breakfast and lunch. For more information, visit https://kofc17215.org.
Cason will shred your papers in fundraiser
Get ready for a new year by getting rid of those old papers!
Cason United Methodist Church is holding a Shred-a-Thon 9 a.m.-noon Nov. 4. The Red Shredder team accepts all kinds of papers and folders, but no boxes, cardboard, X-rays, food, newspaper, glass, magazines, plastic, dark-colored folders, metal objects or equipment. It’s $5 per “bankers box” size or $10 for a bag. Cash is preferred. Credit cards require a $25 minimum. For more information, call Tricia Schmidt at 561-788-2822. Cason is at 342 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. The Shred-a-Thon will be in the church parking lot.
Coffee and conversation after Ascension’s Masses
The Holy Grounds Cafe in the Family Center at Ascension Catholic Church is open after the Sunday Masses at 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon. The cafe serves fresh-brewed coffee and donuts from Dandee Donuts. Both indoor and outdoor seating is available. If you’d rather serve coffee, volunteers are also needed. Ascension Catholic is at 7250 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. 561-997-5486 or https://ascensionboca.org.
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com.
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