On Sunday, September 10, the East Hill Synagogue and Kehilat Kesher Youth Departments led an amazing car wash to help benefit the Jewish people in Houston who were hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Harvey caused a great deal of destruction. Families suffered devastating losses. Many homes were destroyed. We heard that there were members of the community in Houston who suffered great financial losses. They were out of their houses but still had to pay their mortgages and pay rent for an apartment to live in in the interim. The EHS and Kesher Youth Departments decided to spend Sunday morning washing cars in the EHS parking lot to raise funds for our fellow Jews. It was a great morning that moved us all.
Many children from Englewood came to help out. Some washed cars, others sold bagels, donuts and coffee to help raise a significant amount of money to support the people of Houston. Some kids also volunteered to make candy bags for the children of the Houston Orthodox community. We plan to send these bags to UOS; hopefully they will be distributed to the Houston children on Rosh Hashanah. I found it meaningful that kids in Texas will now have special sweets on Yom Tov and they will know that other children across the country are thinking about them and care about them.
The community came out in force to participate in the event. The sight was unbelievable. There were many cars and parents who came to either get their car washed or purchase breakfast. We charged $15 per car wash. Individuals who did not get their car washed donated $20. There were lots of smiles all around. The children of EHS and Kesher were working hard spraying cars, soaping them and toweling them dry. It felt great to know we were working to help others.
Thank you to Rodger Cohen for the inspiring idea and coordinating the logistics; thank you to our youth leaders, Josh and Jordy Sevitz, and Rabbi Benny and Sarah Berlin who organized the event. Personally, I was at the car wash and was very moved watching older kids and younger kids working so diligently. Each child that came really made a difference and helped so much. Even the little kids ages 3 to 5 had so much fun drying the cars with towels. From everyone’s help we were able to collect $1,884 to aid the Houston community. This Sunday taught a lesson to us all. We learned that when we come together to help out we can make an unbelievable difference and can truly make a positive change in this world.
By Ayelet Reichman
