Social Action

Statement Supporting Refugees

The Temple's leadership has joined other faith communities in Fort Wayne to support an Interfaith Declaration of Solidarity for World Refugee Day on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, asking elected officials at all levels "to work together to provide care and protection for refugees forced to flee their homelands and to recognize our responsibility to help them to build new lives."

Social Action Efforts

Our congregation's commitment to social action focuses on a variety of projects in the spirit of tikkun olam to help the community and world.

Our ongoing Thoughtful Thursdays program in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne and Congregation B'nai Jacob helps 86 children and their families who attend Temple Head Start. We are excited to be a winner of the 2013 Irving J. Fain Social Action Award! We received the honor at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's Consultation on Conscience in Washington, DC. Find out more about Thoughtful Thursdays or see our program brochure.

In addition to Thoughtful Thursdays, Achduth Vesholom has an annual High Holy Days food drive to assist local food banks, including Community Harvest, Wellspring Interfaith Social Services, and Associated Churches. Take a grocery bag home on Rosh Hashanah and bring it back on Yom Kippur filled with non-perishable items. Our Hanukkah food drive also helps in the community. During Purim, we ask everyone to bring boxes of macaroni and cheese to use as groggers during the service and then donate the items to the needy.

The Temple Youth Group selects tikkun olam projects annually to assist a variety of organizations. Our Religious School students participate in tzedakah projects.

Our members support MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, including encouraging our b'nei mitzvah students to donate a portion of their gifts to feed the hungry. We ask our members to support MAZON, especially during the High Holy Days and Passover.

Achduth Vesholom is one of 16 supporting congregations of Wellspring Interfaith Social Services.

We're also part of the Northeast Indiana LGBTQ Coalition. Our Temple board completed Safe Space training to become affirming allies of the LGBTQ community. Our members also are invited to attend a Safe Space seminar.

To find out more about how you can help, contact the Temple office (260) 744-4245.

Religious Action Center News