A blood drive will be the centerpiece of a wide array of giving opportunities when the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale-The Bayit (HIR), 3700 Henry Hudson Parkway in the Bronx, holds their annual Chesed Day on Sunday, September 10. Throughout the day, there are opportunities to perform acts of chesed for synagogue members, our neighbors in the Bronx and around the NYC metro area and connect with IDF veterans in Israel.
Held each year in memory of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack, events taking place at the synagogue include a clothing drive, support of a Bronx food pantry and a local public school, and activities to engage young and old in reaching out to first-responders, homebound seniors, grandparents, and disabled Israeli veterans.
This year’s blood drive, running from 9 am to 3 pm, honors a Riverdale couple, Jean and Phil Schneider, who have been steadfast donors, volunteers and valued ambassadors for HIR blood drives for many years.
“Sometimes in life, we feel that we are faced with great challenges,” said HIR’s Senior Rabbi Steven Exler. “One may ask, ‘But what can I do?’ and the answer is: ‘A lot!’ Jean and Phil are teachers of doing, of giving and of caring. When a community member needed blood platelets, Jean coordinated blood volunteers on a daily basis. That is true love of your neighbor—a true example of Ve’Ahavta Le’Reacha Kamocha.”
It was more than a decade ago that Jean Schneider began donating blood platelets for a child in the HIR community suffering from a rare form of cancer.
”I was upset on my first visit to the Sloan Kettering Blood Bank when I saw an empty room with no one waiting to donate,” she recalls. In response, she organized a community-wide campaign that over the course of eighteen months generated more than380 platelet donations.
Jean and Phil Schneider jointly issue this message for Chesed Day: “Today there is a critical blood shortage in the New York area. What if you or a member of your family need blood? Let us all appreciate and take advantage of this moment in time when we can be on the giving side of donating blood.”
The nonprofit New York Blood Center (NYBC) will be providing technicians and equipment including an ALYX machine, which allows donors who meet specific minimum height and weight requirements the option of giving two complete transfusion units of red blood cells.
Seryl Ritter, HIR’s blood drive coordinator, says donors “are strongly encouraged” to schedule an appointment in advance. They can register online at www.thebayit.org/bd or by scanning the QR code displayed with this article. They can also schedule an appointment—or volunteer their services for the blood drive—by contacting her at 917-301-8463 or email at [email protected].
While priority will be given to those who pre-register, noted Seryl, “walk-ins are most welcome and we will do our absolute best to accommodate them.”
Eligible donors must be between the ages of 17 and 75 and will be required to present a photo ID; those who have blood donor cards should bring them as well. Sixteen-year-olds can also donate blood with a signed NYBC parental consent form and proof of date of birth.
Anyone recovering from Covid-19 must be at least 14 days symptom-free before donating blood. Those who are experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms are not eligible to donate blood.
As a bonus this year, donors will receive a NYBC “Pint for a Pint” voucher entitling them to a free beverage at participating breweries and pubs, which include a number located in Manhattan. Visit www.nybc.org/pint for details.
The clothing drive runs from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Please bring separately bagged men’s, women’s and children’s clothing as well as gently used linens, blankets, quilts and towels directly to the truck parked on the street outside the synagogue. Volunteers will be on hand to unload your car as you drive by. To volunteer for the collection or for more information, contact Steve Pretsfelder or Barbara Gochberg at [email protected].
Chesed Day will also be an opportunity to meet representatives of Beit Halochem USA-Friends of Israel Disabled Veterans (FIDV) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and learn about an organization that operates rehabilitation centers in Israel serving more than 50,000 veteran servicemen and women and their families. Greeting visitors and sharing information about the vital work performed at FIDV facilities will be Ella Levine, national executive director of FIDV-Beit Halochem USA, and Zvi Paikin, long-time FIDV supporter and HIR member.
Visitors are invited to write Shana Tova greetings to two of these veterans: The first, Captain Ran Ben Attia, who served as an Operations Officer in the Nahal Brigade, was severely wounded by a sniper during a military operation in 2014. The second, Oren Blitzblau, was blinded and suffered other serious injuries during a suicide bomber attack in 2005. Both men have demonstrated their fortitude by participating in “Ironman” and other sports competitions as they overcame many obstacles in a long process of rehabilitation. Learn more about them at thebayit.org/fidv.
The HIR Youth Department will harness children’s creative energies by sponsoring a trio of mitzvah projects from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Children will help prepare cards and pack snacks for distribution at the local firehouse and police precinct to honor first-responders a day before the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The children will also prepare Rosh Hashanah cards for homebound seniors. Finally, children will celebrate Grandparents Day (also on September 10!) by creating gifts for the grandparents in their lives.
Chesed Day activities will also benefit the clients of the Bronx Jewish Community Council and Jewish Community Council of Pelham Parkway, two agencies providing one of the largest kosher food pantries in the East Bronx. Please join us from noon to 1 p.m. to prepare sandwiches for the food pantry.
To further help our neighbors here in the Bronx, HIR will collaborate with We Repair the World (www.weprepair.org) to support education access in the community. Volunteers (from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m.) will pack backpacks with much needed school supplies for students at PS 207 in the Marble Hill section of the Bronx. The bags will be distributed to students by the 4Bronx Project, a nonprofit program focused on “supporting the underserved and bringing diversity and inclusion to our community.”
To volunteer for the food pantry or school supplies activity, email Yael-Manor Oshinsky at [email protected]
HIR’s Helping Hands Committee reminds everyone that chesed starts at home. Representatives from the committee will be recruiting High Holiday volunteers from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to assist members who need help getting to and from services and other activities. For further information on volunteering, email the committee at [email protected]
