One Good Deed at a Time

Volunteers from RAJE, the Russian American Jewish Experience, help repair the interior of the Klein JCC.

"I have a heart condition. What don't I have?" Caplan said as he sat on the couch next to his wife, Natalie, of 54 years.

After pointing out photos of his children and grandkids -- who don't live close by -- Caplan lamented that even basic home repairs are beyond his ability and budget.

That's where 10 volunteers came into the picture, on the job on April 3 as part of "Mitzvah Mania," the annual day of service sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

They were mostly in their mid-20s and not necessarily skilled at home repair, though there was one general contractor in their midst. They spent the day making a number of repairs to the house the couple have called home for more than 50 years.

According to Scott Lipner, the 26-year-old "house captain" overseeing the project, the group installed an eco-friendly toilet; replaced rotary phones with cordless ones; placed runners on the stairs leading to the basement; cleaned debris from the backyard; painted an upstairs room and the front door, and -- thank the general contractor for this one -- repaired piping connected to the boiler.

"It was a great feeling. Some of these changes are going to make their ability to live a little easier," said Lipner, who is part of the Jewish Federation Real Estate group. He was also the one who recruited a bunch of his friends to wake up early on Sunday and contribute their time.

Volunteers constructed wooden benches for use outside the Stiffel Center in South Philadelphia. Repairs were also made to area homes.

In addition to repairing houses for low-income seniors in South Philadelphia, volunteers helped clean Cobb's Creek Park in West Philadelphia, in conjunction with Philadelphia's Spring Cleanup weekend, orchestrated by Mayor Michael Nutter; planted a garden at the Klein JCC in the Northeast; and helped spruce up the Mandell Educational Campus in Melrose Park, among other things.

Engaging the Community

A number of synagogues put together their own projects.

Organizers of the day said that service-oriented programs such as these are about putting Jewish values into practice on a large scale. "Mitzvah Mania" also represents an effort to engage the wider Jewish community, especially individuals with little connection to Federation or other agencies, according to Brian Gralnick, director of Federation's Center for Social Responsibility, which oversaw "Mitzvah Mania."

Gralnick said the demand for volunteering opportunities often outstripped available slots.

In South Philadelphia, near the Stiffel Center, which is run by the Klein JCC, more than 150 volunteers spent the day repairing a total of 11 homes for low-income homeowners.

Most, but not all of the beneficiaries, were elderly Jews.

All of the homes were situated within a several block radius. Volunteers also performed work on the Stiffel Center, building outdoor benches from scratch and creating new flower beds.

The South Philly project highlighted the difficult living conditions faced by many of the elderly Jews that Federation and other organizations serve. It also placed into sharp relief the challenge of having seniors age in place in a city with older housing facilities.

The South Philly project was funded by Federation's real estate group and was coordinated by the nonprofit organization Rebuilding Together Philadelphia. The latter group visited homeowners in advance and helped determine what could be accomplished in a day; it also assigned volunteer occupational therapists to each home to help find ways to make everyday tasks easier for the homeowner.

Suzanne Bass, a 23-year-old graduate student in social work at the University of Pennsylvania, said she found it a little overwhelming when she first stepped in and saw the condition of Daniel and Mary Podolski's home. (He's 91 and gets around with the help of a walker, although he still plays drums for the "Stiffel Swingers" band; she's 86 and confined to a wheelchair.)

Bass, who plans to work with the elderly and was eager to learn how to examine a home for safety hazards, was leery of overestimating how much impact a single day could make.

"Quite a lot could be improved," Bass said, adding that knowing "you are making someone's life a little better is really powerful."

House captain Eli Salomon, an MBA student at Penn's Wharton School of Business who sits on the advisory board for Hillel's Jewish Graduate Student Network, said that he's encouraging more graduate students to volunteer for the Jewish community.

"You have to be a holistic person; that's the Jewish way," said Salomon, who offered to stay behind with the Podolskis while the rest of the group went on a pizza run.

As he prepared to make lunch for his infirm wife, Podolski said that he'd been overwhelmed by medical bills and could never afford the kind of service the group was providing.

The World War II veteran said: "I told God to take care of me -- and I pray."