CBB: 770 Acts of Kindness

770 ACTS OF KINDNESS

By Nick Woolf and Audrie Krause

The Caring Community

at Congregation B’nai B’rith is a group of volunteers who provide support to community members who face short term difficulties of one kind or another.

Prior to the pandemic, this assistance might include anything from driving members to temple, to delivering soup or cheer bags, accompanying them to doctor’s appointments, or preparing and delivering meals after a member returned home from surgery.

In March 2020, however, our activities needed to adapt overnight. We went from a small group of long-term volunteers serving a small handful of members to a large, wide-ranging operation with new volunteers, all eager to help a wide range of members impacted in one way or another.

Indeed, over the past year and a half, the Caring Community has provided some 770 acts of service, reaching out to more than 130 members, with a volunteer pool of about 70.

The primary mission of the Caring Community is to try and ensure that no one has acute unmet needs that our volunteers could fill.

And what were all of these volunteers doing?

We had younger members buying groceries for elder members, techie volunteers helping congregants connect to CBB by Zoom, and a series of check in calls to make sure that there were no isolated people with needs that no one was aware of.

In some cases, members were struggling to pay for groceries and other necessities. Due to the generosity of donors to a COVID-19 fund, we could provide pre-paid gift cards, so that our volunteer shoppers could purchase and deliver what the members needed. At other times, volunteer opportunities were completely unanticipated. For example, one woman was unable to visit her husband who was in a nursing home under lock down. We arranged for volunteers to call her, and as a result, we learned one major cause of her distress was that her husband’s hearing aids had been misplaced and she couldn’t afford to replace them. CBB was able to help with this expense, ensuring the couple could speak regularly — first by phone, then through a window. This provided them both enormous comfort until he passed away some months later. Meanwhile, volunteers are still checking in with the member to this day.

An enormous project completed over the course of the pandemic were three rounds of calls to every member household, some 800 people each time. This helped us to identify members in need, though luckily most people seemed to be doing well. But others were isolated, and so a new program of “friendly callers” sprang up. This has become the service most supplied by volunteers—and in many ways gets to the heart of our volunteer efforts.

What we learned from the calls is the tremendous value of connection. The primary mission of the Caring Community is to try to ensure that no one has acute unmet needs that could be fulfilled by our volunteers.

The new all-member calling campaigns have demonstrated that all of our membership comprises one big Caring Community. Whether it’s the volunteers who make these calls, or the recipients, all have universally reported how fulfilling and valuable it has been to make contact and connect with congregants who may already be friends or acquaintances, but more likely had previously never met.

In fact, one new volunteer began with a list of 20 members to call, but enjoyed the task so much she eventually reached out to 60 members!

Helping members during a pandemic was definitely challenging. Beforehand, we kept a database that tracked acts of kindness so we could match volunteers to members in need. However, this quickly transitioned to a new “command center” consisting of Mariela Socolovsky, CBB’s Director of Community Engagement, along with Nick Woolf and Audrie Krause. This trio met weekly by Zoom to plan their activities and share information so that nothing fell between the cracks – the general motto of the Caring Community!

As the months have progressed and restrictions eased, our community’s needs have changed as well. This spring, volunteers helped those members who are less tech savvy to navigate the complications of getting vaccine appointments. Marcy Wimbish and Laura Habecker spearheaded this effort, helping dozens of members get early vaccination appointments as soon as vaccines became available, and Yael Brennan helped us find the best ways to do it by providing invaluable information.

What we know is that the response of our community to the unique needs of the pandemic were extraordinary. Moving forward, our volunteers are mobilized to keep reaching out to members, whatever their needs. And we on the Caring Community feel lucky to witness how, in the greatest times of need, our volunteers spring into action.

Audrie Krause, a longtime nonprofit professional and activist, is the coordinator of CBB’s Chesed Helpers. Nick Woolf is semi-retired and works part-time as qualitative research consultant. He is Chair of CBB’s Caring Community committee. Congregation B’nai B’rith is a diverse, inclusive community of individuals and families building together a warm and vibrant house of living Judaism. We are the oldest and largest synagogue in Santa Barbara, a congregation rich with memories and tradition, constantly seeking new ways of engaging every one of our members in the ancient and marvelous Jewish way of life. We envision CBB as a place where Santa Barbara Jewish people and our families feel welcome and at home, where we are inspired to bring our gifts of energy and creativity, and where we connect to the tradition and community of our Jewish ancestors. We aspire to be a congregation of knowledgeable and committed Jews. We are constantly growing as a Kehilla K’dosha, a sacred community of people whose lives are enriched with meaning, purpose, connectedness and relationship with God.

Congregation B’nai B’rith

1000 San Antonio Creek Road Santa Barbara, CA 93111 cbbsb.org 805.964.7869 Mariela Socolovsky, Director of Community Engagement mariela@cbbsb.org