PHOTO: Bakers asssemble loaves at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland's challah bake event with OneTable and Chabad of Northeast Portland Thursday, Apr. 24 in Portland. Participants made challot for themselves, for Chabad's Chesed Connection meal program. (Rockne Roll/The Jewish Review)

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
As the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Good Deeds Month winds to a close, to call it a “good month” may risk understatement. 
“It was a great way to get the word out about the new Jewish Volunteer Corps and connect people both to our volunteer efforts and the volunteer efforts of other organizations,” Federation Volunteer Coordinator Merit Pinker explained. 
The month included five separate events sponsored by the Federation along with five events sponsored by other organizations. Co-sponsors of Federation events included Chabad of Northeast Portland and OneTable as well as the Sunshine Division and Dress for Success in Portland. Additional events were hosted by Congregation Kesser Israel (in conjunction with SOLVE), Jewish Family & Child Service, the Mittleman Jewish Community Center and the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation.
“The Sunshine Division and Dress for Success are both new organizations to us, they’re not organizations that we’ve partnered with before, or at least not for a long time,” Pinker said. “We’re able to connect our volunteers with organizations that they’re passionate about, which we know is important. But also, I think those partnerships with non-Jewish organizations in the community build goodwill and understanding and creates allies outside of the Jewish community, which we know right now is especially important.”
Total attendance at the month’s programs is estimated at around 150 people – many of whom were excited to be able to tap into the juncture of volunteer service and Jewish community. 
“They are excited to hear that there’s more of a focus on volunteerism coming from Federation,” Pinker said of the feedback she received from volunteers. “At every event, there were volunteers saying things like, ’I want to do more of this. I felt great doing it.’”
Some are already taking that sentiment a step further. 
“A high schooler from Northeast Portland came on her own to our Dress for Success program. She had been looking for volunteer opportunities in the community, and her grandmother told her about that event, because she has a passion for fashion and clothing,” Pinker recalled. “She had a great time. By the time we were leaving, she was talking to their executive director about coming weekly to volunteer with them. It was just very cool to see small touch points becoming long-term volunteer opportunities.”
A major goal of the month was to connect volunteers with those looking for volunteer help – mission accomplished. But that wasn’t the only goal. 
“Part of the volunteer program’s goal is to build Jewish community,” Pinker said. “We want our volunteers not just to connect with the organizations that they’re working with, but to connect with each other as well.”
Mission accomplished on that front, as well. Pinker shared an example from last Thursday’s Challah Bake event at Chabad of Northeast Portland. 
“I don’t know if these people knew each other a little bit, but not well, or maybe they just met at the event, but it turns out they were neighbors, or at least lived in the same neighborhood of Portland, and they got to talking,” she said. “At the event, everyone was taking their own challah home to bake at home for their Shabbat dinner the next night. And one of the people at this table was saying, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize we were not baking it here. I don’t have room in my oven right now because my Shabbat dinner is already in there. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make this challah.’ And the woman who was his neighbor sitting at the table said, ‘Well, I’ll take it home. I’ll bake it for you, and I’ll drop it off tomorrow.’ So, it was just this beautiful connection of people building community with each other, doing things for each other. I think that’s a big part of what we’re trying to do as well.”
While April is coming to an end, there are plenty of good deeds still to do – learn more about such opportunities in The Jewish Review’s new Volunteer Calendar on page 13 or online at jewishportland.org/ourcommunity/volunteering.