Temple members Jess Lewin, Michael Wachs, Hedy Van der Fluit, Diane Ring, Marie Pedersen
Food Pantry
Our rabbis teach that when you are asked in the world to come “What was your work?” and you answer, “I fed the hungry,” you will be told, “This is the house of God, enter into it, you who have fed the hungry.”
For more than two decades our Leanse Ratner Food Pantry has fed the hungry in Los Angeles. With locations at the Karsh Family Services Center at the Glazer campus (eastside) and at The People Concern in Santa Monica (westside), it’s easier than ever for members of Wilshire Boulevard Temple to get involved.
It’s one thing to make a sandwich or pack a lunch; it’s another to actually distribute food to a person in need. And even during the most uncertain times of a global pandemic, the Karsh Center remained committed to staying open for our community, with the support of dedicated volunteers.
Join us for a few hours on a Sunday morning and enter the house of God.
Volunteers are always welcome. For safety reasons, we ask all interested volunteers to compete an application with the Karsh Center and undergo a short training before volunteering.
Visit karshcenter.org/
Donations
We are excited to announce that in honor of 30 years of service to the community, we have received an anonymous $50,000 matching gift. All donations given to our Food Pantries before the end of the year will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000. Our work has been, and continues to be deeply impactful to our neighbors and community.
Food Pantry Volunteer Experience
She was barely five feet tall, making it a challenge for her to reach inside the containers of food along the counter. Speaking only Korean, she conveyed her needs by pointing. I responded to each gesture, handing her a stalk of celery, a half dozen jalapeños, a few apples, some lettuce. We filled her bag at the Karsh Family Social Service Center food pantry that Sunday morning, and wordlessly, she bowed to thank me as she headed for the door. But then she stopped and turned around. “Shalom,” she said with a big smile.
And there it was: one word, a heartwarming Hebrew word at that, reminding me that the chief beneficiaries of volunteering are not just the people we serve.