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Operation Warm-Up
Meet Ellison Joseph and Susie Stern –
Giving kindness, comfort and warmth to the homeless – Federation's Face of the Month
Super Volunteers - Susie Stern (left) and Ellison Joseph
Ellison Joseph and Susie Stern are committed to reaching out to Cleveland’s homeless community this winter as Super Volunteers for Operation Warm-Up: 700 Coats for Cleveland’s Homeless – a partnership between the Federation’s Jewish Volunteer Network (JVN), National Council of Jewish Women, Cleveland Section (NCJW), and area synagogues, day schools and Jewish organizations. The coats will be donated to InterAct Cleveland’s Homeless Stand Down on February 7, 2010. As Super Volunteers, Ellison and Susie are monitoring the collection bins at each site, sorting the coats and getting them ready for distribution.

“I feel so privileged to be where I am in my life,” says Ellison. “How can I not give to those who are in desperate need?” Through Ellison’s involvement with The Park Synagogue and JVN’s Social Action Network she learned about this opportunity and felt compelled to make this project a reality.

Susie Stern chose to get involved in Operation Warm-Up because it directly serves an immediate need in this community. She poignantly states, “I was reminded that the homeless are right here in our own community and they shouldn’t be invisible – this project is a tangible way to provide assistance.” Susie is a volunteer with NCJW whose focus on poverty this year made it a perfect fit.

This project provides an opportunity to give, not just get, this Chanukah. According to Susie, Cleveland’s Jewish community chose to partner with InterAct Cleveland on this project because “it is simply the most efficient way to collect and distribute hundreds of coats to those who need them.”

InterAct has been organizing the Homeless Stand Down for 19 years. “The homeless community is in even greater need as February approaches,” says Sister Donna Wilhelm of InterAct Cleveland. “People can manage to get by during the holiday season, but in February, everything seems to dry up.”
New and nearly new men’s and women’s large and extra-large coats are needed and can be dropped off at NCJW (26055 Emery Rd., Warrensville Hts.), The Mandel JCC (26001 S. Woodland Rd., Beachwood) or any of the following locations:
The Agnon School
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
B'nai Jeshurun Congregation
Congregation Bethaynu
Congregation Shaarey Tikvah
Fuchs Mizrachi School
Green Road Synagogue
Gross Schechter Day School
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Park Synagogue (Main and East locations)
The Temple-Tifereth Israel
Suburban Temple-Kol Ami
Young Israel of Greater Cleveland
Collection ends January 22, 2010. For further information, please contact Karen Steiger, Director of JVN, at 216.566.6504 or ksteiger@jcfcleve.org.

The Face of the Month spotlights the work of the Federation through the people we are helping in Cleveland, Israel and around the world, and through the faces of those who are working with us to make the world a better place.

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