Mitzvah Day

Blood drives Donors helped save lives by donating more than 150 pints of blood at five synagogues in northern New Jersey. The Jewish Community Center of Paramus/Congregation Beth Tikvah hosted an American Red Cross blood drive. (Photos courtesy JFNNJ)

Fighting hunger and homelessness The community collected, sorted, and distributed food, toiletries, warm coats, and clothing for homeless and disadvantaged men, women, and children. Members of Sha’ar Communities, pictured, distribute food at CUMAC in Paterson.

The great outdoors Volunteers prepared flowerbeds for the winter, removed more than 50 bags of trash and brush in parks and historic sites, and planted bulbs that will flower in the spring. Here, Boy Scout Troop 226 and the Pack 613 Webelos Den of Teaneck clean up debris at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park.

Seniors Volunteers served pancakes for breakfast at a senior center and brought their pets to be admired as choirs and clowns provided lighthearted entertainment, and visitors and residents played bingo. There even was a carnival. Here, members of Areyvut’s Mitzvah Clowning program entertain seniors at CareOne Teaneck.

Kids pitch in Students ranging in age from tots to teens and their families baked cookies for first responders and veterans, created cheerful crafts and cards for hospitalized children, and assembled care packages for American soldiers. Here, Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley religious school students, deliver cookies to Woodcliff Lake’s police department.