Seaside Jewish Community provides Christmas meals and gifts

On Christmas Eve, more than 30 volunteers from Seaside Jewish Community in Rehoboth Beach provided a turkey dinner with all the trimmings for clients of the Lighthouse for Broken Wings, a nonprofit agency that assists homeless people.

This included meals for a year-round home in Harbeson for a dozen residents, a family of five in the Rehoboth area, and the Sheltering Heart, a Code Purple shelter using the American Inn in Rehoboth this winter to provide housing for about 50 people, including 20 children.

Community volunteers throughout the area provide meals for the Lighthouse on an ongoing basis, but Seaside congregants wanted to give volunteers a break on Christmas Eve so they could spend the holiday at home with their families. Seaside also provided Christmas gifts for a family who spent last Christmas housed in the hotel, but who are now renting a home, thanks to assistance from the Lighthouse.

Seaside’s effort was organized by its community services committee, which promotes the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, acts of kindness to repair the world. Its programs include preparing and serving soup kitchen meals, rescuing food from area restaurants, holding collection drives to assist local nonprofit organizations, and assisting with the summer International Student Outreach Program.

Seaside is the only Jewish congregation in southern Delaware. It is an unaffiliated, egalitarian and inclusive community that embraces all levels of observance and promotes a sense of extended family among members.

For more information, go to seasidejewishcommunity.com.