Project Kehila is convening this fall to discuss how best to respond to the unprecedented damage caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and the resulting wreckage they left behind in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. Project Kehila, our natural disaster response team, was founded in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, LA, and sprang into action to support relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy.
Rebuilding will be a long road. Project Kehila presents this information to the CRS community concerned and ready to take action.
How You Can Help – Florida
As we have considered the most effective way to provide assistance to Hurricane Irma’s victims, we have had extensive conversations with our partners at the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Florida is an area of strength for the Federation system, with a dozen highly effective federations ready to coordinate assistance in their local communities. In this case, we believe that the best response to partner closely with JFNA rather than running our own fundraising effort. You can find more information about this joint effort at www.urj.org/irma.
We are working closely with JFNA to make sure that the needs of our Reform congregations (and their congregants) will be a high priority for their relief allocations. We will be in ongoing, high-level contact with JFNA as the allocation process develops.
Other Organizations:
- Volunteer Florida is looking for volunteers. For more information, visit www.volunteerflorida.org/irma
- Greater Miami Jewish Federation:
- In times like these, we can depend on Miami’s strong, united Jewish community to care for each other and to do our part to care for all in need. As the utility companies work to restore electrical power and communications services, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation is partnering with the Jewish and general communities to assess the needs of our local residents and institutions, and to mobilize volunteers and other resources where they are needed most.Federation has established an emergency relief fund to support urgent needs in the Jewish and general communities in the wake of Hurricane Irma.Donation checks with a notation of “Hurricane Irma Relief Fund” should be mailed to the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 4200 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33137. For assistance, you may also call 305.576.4000. One hundred percent of all contributions to the Hurricane Irma Relief Fund will be directed to this effort.Volunteers wishing to help others should call the Jewish Volunteer Center of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation at 877.879.5652 and follow the prompts. Please leave your name and contact information and someone will return your call. You may also email IrmaVolunteers@gmjf.org.
How You Can Help – Texas
Partners in relief work: The URJ is working closely with our partners in the Jewish Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (JVOAD), especially the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and NECHAMA. A few updates:
- Jewish Family Services in Houston opened August 30th. They are asking for volunteer case managers and clinical experts. They also have a JFS crisis hotline for weather-related anxiety, staffed by a local therapist.
- The Jewish Community Center is serving as a gatherer and distributor of supplies. They are soliciting both volunteers and specific supplies.
- Donate: Donations to the URJ’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund (now closed, thank you for your generosity!) will support the work of URJ Greene Family Camp, as well as that of other community partners.
We also recommend donations to:
- Send gift cards from major national retailers: The primary request from Houston-area congregational leadership is for physical gift cards (not electronic versions) to stores such as Target, Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s, as well as the major grocery stores in the area, Kroger and H-E-B. Rabbi David Lyon of Congregation Beth Israel (a large congregation in great need) notes:
- You may send gift cards to any Houston-area congregation, who will distribute them based on need:
-
- Congregation Beth Israel, 5600 N. Braeswood Blvd., Houston, TX 77096
- Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd., Houston, TX 77005
- Congregation Beth Shalom of the Woodlands, 5125 Shadowbend Place, The Woodlands, TX 77381
- Temple Sinai, 13875 Brimhurst Drive, Houston, TX 77077
- Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism, 801 Bering Drive, Houston, TX 77057
- Temple Emanuel, 1120 Broadway, Beaumont, TX 77701
- Congregation B’Nai Israel, P.O. Box 8060, Galveston, TX 77553
- Congregation Beth Israel, 4402 Saratoga Blvd, Corpus Christi, TX 78413
- Congregation Beth El, 3900 Raoul Wallenberg Lane, Missouri City, TX 77459
- Volunteer: NECHAMA expects to have volunteer opportunities available soon.
- “What about donations of food or clothing?” The best advice from those directly involved in working with the flood victims is that donations to relief organizations or gift cards are preferable, as it is difficult and inefficient to match up victims’ needs with specific donations. Instead, these agencies are asking for direct financial support.
For ongoing updates, please follow the URJ on Facebook and Twitter and consult the #HurricaneHarvey topic tag in The Tent. To communicate with the URJ about any local needs or specific response questions, please email HarveyResponse@urj.org.
How You Can Help – Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
For those in areas affected by Hurricane Maria, FEMA is recommending donating cash as the best. Click here to go to FEMA’s ways to help page to read why giving in this way has been deemed optimal at this time. There are also instructions on how to donate goods.
- United for Puerto Rico is recommended as one way to donate funds.
- The Jewish Federations have started a 2017 Hurricane Relief Fund, which supports efforts to help recovery after Maria.
NECHAMA
NECHAMA is a voluntary organization that provides natural disaster preparedness, response, and recovery services nationwide. Through the years we have brought comfort to disaster survivors by training and mobilizing thousands of volunteers to help communities after floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.
Our work is rooted in the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (“repairing the world through acts of kindness”). We offer help to all people affected by disaster on the basis of need regardless of religious affiliation. We also welcome anyone willing to volunteer and serve others to join us.
Our collective work is not done in an effort to proselytize; rather we train, equip, and lead volunteers that assist disaster survivors in the spirit of goodwill and creating mutual respect among all people.
NECHAMA is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.
Hurricane Harvey Volunteer Registration
can be found here.
Thank you so much for showing interest in our Hurricane Harvey response project in Texas! No special skills or previous experience is necessary, just a willingness to work hard for a good cause. Please fill out all information so we can register your interest in volunteering and find the best time for you to join us.
Please note that submitting this form DOES NOT guarantee a volunteer spot. DO NOT book ANY travel unless you have received an email confirming that you have a spot on this program.
Interested Residential Volunteers:
In general, we will be working from 8:30AM to 4PM, 6 days a week. Basic Accommodation, three simple meals on work days; and all the necessary support and logistics for you to have a positive and productive volunteer experience.
You must cover the cost of:
Travel to and from the program, and meals on your days off.
In the meantime, please check out our website (www.NECHAMA.org) and our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NECHAMAjrtd/) to stay up to date with our operations and donate.
We will contact you as soon as possible!
In addition, please visit our webpage on Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria to find out more ways to help.
