Community Service

For my community service I chose to volunteer at a temple. I had other hours because I am a Class Board officer, but that isn't as meaningful to me as this volunteering was. Temple B'nai Shalom is not the temple that my family and I belong to, so it was more out of my comfort zone that it would have been to volunteer at my temple. On select Saturdays I helped work in the office, set up for Kiddushes, which are receptions held after services, and did what ever was asked of me. Setting up for the Kiddushes took some time, because I had to get food ready for a lot of hungry congregants. However I thought it was rewarding to be so heavily thanked and appreciated by many different people. The temple is fairly small, so I got to know most of the paid workers on a more personal level. At the temple I belong to the atmosphere is much different because it is so large and it is hard to make real personal connections in a congregation with so many people. Volunteering at B'nai Shalom felt special to me because its size allows everyone at the temple to know each other and helped make a more positive atmosphere and experience for me. Before my grandma became ill, she worked at this temple, so I felt that it was a really rewarding experience to get to see what she normally would do when she was able to attend work. Everyone treated me well because they know my grandma and welcomed me into their temple with open arms. Even though for my community service I didn't get to help people with disadvantages, or help people who were severely in need, I still think I learned a lot. Helping people at all and doing it out of the goodness of my heart was great because I felt really good after I left and thought about making a difference. I learned from this that you don't need to have a grand gesture to make a difference and even the little things you do count.

Congregation B'nai Shalom
701 W Aptakisic Rd
March 19, April 2nd 10am-2pm
Marsha Schelsky, 847-415-1370