YLD beat the heat with volunteering at Maggie's Farm! Our most recent YLDay of Caring took us to Gordon Square, where we got our hands dirty weeding the vegetable garden, planting mushrooms, and constructing a greenhouse. Thank you to all of our enthusiastic volunteers for joining us for another meaningful and successful event!

Bill Jones is a consummate volunteer now that he retired from his profession in sales and marketing in the polymer chemistry industry. Always up for new adventures, Bill recently returned from the Federation's Volunteer Beit Shean 2-week program in Israel.

In 2004, I moved to Cleveland, clad with a winter coat that more resembled a sleeping bag than any sort of shapely outerwear, nostalgic memories of a sun tan, and the phone number of some distant relatives. I knew no one else.

So there I was, uncomfortably staring down a plate of cheez-it dusted tostadas with a garlic spinach remoulade and spicy mustard emulsion. Grandma’s brisket and matzah ball soup this was not.

There is no greater mitzvah (good deed) than honoring those who came before us! Thank you to the many volunteers who joined together for our Jewish Volunteer Network (JVN) and Commission on Cemetery Preservation (COCP) annual Spring Cemetery Cleanup. From across the community, came young and old alike, spending their Sunday raking, pruning, and beautifying the 124 year-old Lansing Cemetery.

J-Serve is the international day of Jewish service where teens from around the world get together within their communities to perform service acts of repairing the world, or Tikkun Olam.

It really is no secret that observing the dietary laws of Passover in the United States is somewhat of a chore and not exactly easy. Passover in Israel is a completely different story. For the most part, the grocery stores and restaurants do all the work for you and it is much harder to break the laws of Passover in Israel than it is to keep them.

Mabel spent most of her life donating her time to charity. She volunteered with a variety of organizations, in Cleveland and beyond. At 75, she had slowed down a bit but her interest in doing good never changed.