A new Food Pantry Committee at Ferd & Gladys Alpert Jewish Family Service (Alpert JFS) is launching a pilot project to ensure its existing clients are ready in the event of storms and/or other emergency situations. Committee members include Chair Marjorie Feldman, Holly Bromer, Alpert JFS Board member David Ginsberg, Iris Markel, and Maxine Marks. Alpert JFS Director of Volunteer Leadership Belinda Lasky, who is responsible for the agency’s two Kosher Food Pantries, and Alpert JFS Clinical Director Dr. Elaine Rotenberg lead efforts to expand the organization’s work in combating food insecurity.

On Tuesday, August 10, 2021, Alpert JFS volunteers and employees at Kosher Food Pantry locations in West Palm Beach at Alpert JFS’ main office and inside Temple Shaarei Shalom in Boynton Beach will be assembling the “Just-in-Case” bags. Contents will include tuna fish/salmon and/or sardines, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, applesauce, canned vegetables, canned fruit, pasta, water, and shelf-stable milk, as well as an agency-branded flashlight and hand sanitizer. The next day, volunteers will deliver the bags to clients of the agency’s Kosher Food Pantry, and those who receive holiday meals or holiday food baskets to prepare a traditional dinner.  Volunteers will be identified by t-shirts with the Alpert JFS and Melvin J. & Claire Levine Jewish Residential & Family Service (Levine JRFS) logos and the tag line: We Are Here When You Need Us.

“Alpert JFS is committed to combating hunger in our community,” said Dr. Rotenberg. ‘We provide food throughout the year to individuals and families who are struggling with food insecurity. The face of food insecurity can be homebound elderly living on meager incomes, but can just as easily be young families facing financial challenges, setbacks, and job loss.” 

“I am so pleased that the first pilot project of the Food Pantry Committee will help supply food and supplies for Alpert JFS clients so that they may be prepared for a variety of unexpected situations,” said Feldman. “The contents of the bags are essentials that are coming from the shelves of our pantries in West Palm Beach and Boynton Beach.”

“We are grateful for the generosity of our community members who ensure that our kosher food pantries are stocked with food and supplies,” said Lasky. “If anyone knows of friends, family or neighbors who could benefit from the Alpert JFS Kosher Food Pantry, please call 561-684-1991.”

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