“Congregation with a Conscience” ®
Congregation B’nai Israel was built on a foundation of service to the community. Together as a congregation, we have come together to use our voices and actions in a meaningful way to make a positive difference in our community. Inside the walls of our Synagogue, our volunteers usher, welcome, greet, assist our guests, and invite our community into a sacred space with their warmth and love. Outside the walls of our synagogue, CBI’s Kantor Family Center for Justice along with our volunteers continually help others by working with our community partners throughout the year.
Let’s work together to make a difference!
For those looking to volunteer, CBI offers a number of ways to help others and connect with fellow volunteers.
To join CBI's Volunteer Group and participate in one (or all) of our programs below, click here.
Ongoing Initiatives
The Ongoing Initiatives listed below are fun for the whole family and a great way to teach your children about helping those in need.
Join us for Blanket Buddies, our monthly initiative where volunteers come together on the first Monday of each month to create no-sew blankets. Spend a few hours with us making cozy blankets that are then delivered to homeless shelters, hospitals, senior centers, and animal shelters. Your participation helps provide warmth and comfort to those in need, and every blanket made brings a little more kindness to our community.
To RSVP for the next Blanket Buddies, click here.
For the past 25 years, CBI's Sandwich Brigade volunteers have made and delivered 150-200 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches each week to The Boys and Girls Club of Boca Raton and The Caring Kitchen in Delray Beach for children in underserved after-school programs.
Help Make & Deliver Sandwiches
The Sandwich Brigade meets every Wednesday from 9:30-10:30AM in the WRJ Kitchen.
Families can also make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches at home and drop them off at CBI.
Please contact Minda Shaiman for more information.
Our Little Free Pantry program is a way to get our congregants involved in the fight against hunger in our community.
How to Donate Items & Food
Donations can be dropped off at the Admin Circle on CBI's campus Monday - Friday between 9:30AM - 5PM, at Shabbat Services, or at any on-campus event.
Please place the items into the blue bins.
Congregation B'nai Israel is seeking dedicated volunteers to help pick up donated items and deliver them to our partner organizations across Palm Beach County. Volunteers are needed to transport weekly donations for the Little Free Pantry and to handle our larger, monthly collections. Your time and effort in ensuring these items reach those in need are greatly appreciated. Join us in making a difference in our community!
To volunteer to deliver items, please contact Minda Shaiman.
When you see a person who is homeless holding a sign on a street corner, are you unsure how to respond? This project can provide a big-hearted answer for your family. Put together toiletry kits and drop them off at CBI. We will deliver these kits to organizations throughout the community.
Ideas of Items to Include:
- Sunscreen
- Tooth Brush
- Tooth Paste
- Bandages
- Lip Balm
- Kleenex
- Hand Wipes
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Body Wash
- Feminine Products
Show your appreciation for our community’s first responders by making baked goods and dropping them off at your local police or fire department.
Monthly Initiatives
As a Congregation with a Conscience®, social action initiatives are integral to our synagogue's mission. Throughout the year, we host various events and collections for local charities. As a united effort, the Nadel Center for Early Childhood Education, The Barry Ira Graff School for Living Judaism, and Congregation B'nai Israel participate in volunteer opportunities and collections centered around a central guiding theme each month.
Annual Initiatives
Each year, during the High Holy Days, we collect non-perishable food items during our Annual Fight Against Hunger! At the conclusion of Rosh Hashanah services, congregants and community guests are invited to take home as many bags as they like and fill them with non-perishable and non-breakable food items. Then, on Yom Kippur, they return the filled bags to the truck stationed in the CBI parking lot.
The food is distributed to those in need through the Jacobson Family Food Pantry of Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services, C.R.O.S Ministries and Boca Helping Hands.
If you are able to help with the distribution of bags and/or organizing food and donations, please sign up here.
30,000+ Thanksgiving dinners provided to members of our community
We have partnered with Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church for the past 40 years to provide a hearty meal to thousands of community members in need during the week of Thanksgiving. Through donations, member-sponsored food drives and food collections, we are able to ensure that local families have a memorable holiday experience.
To learn more about Feed the Community, click here.
In keeping with Judaism’s teachings of Tikkun Olam, this is a day for volunteers of all ages to come together, lending their time, energy and compassion to work on projects that improve the lives of those in need.
Each year, we have on-campus, off-campus and at-home activities as well as collections. Donations can also be made to the Kantor Family Center for Justice.
To learn more about Mitzvah Day, click here.
Community Partners
- Achievement Centers for Children & families
- American Breast Cancer Association
- ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America)
- AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse)
- Best Foot Forward
- Boca Helping Hands
- Boca Raton Elementary
- Boys and Girls Club
- Caring Kitchen
- CROS Ministries
- David’s Armenian Church
- Dress for Success
- Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church
- Family Promise
- Farm Workers Council
- Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County
- Guatemala Maya Center
- Gift of Life Bone Marrow Registry
- Gould House Senior Living
- Gumbo Limbo Nature Preserve
- Habitat for Humanity
- In Jacob’s Shoes
- JAFCO (Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options)
- JARC
- Jewish Family Services
- Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County
- Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America
- JNF (Jewish National Fund)
- Magen David Adom - Ambulances for Israel
- Manor House Senior Living
- MorseLife Foundation
- One Love-One Community Foundation
- OneBlood
- Palm Beach County Food Bank
- Palm Beach Housing Authority
- Pearl City Cats
- Sharsharet
- SOS Children’s Village
- Soup Kitchen of Boynton Beach
- Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc.
- Spirit of Giving Network
- Stand Among Friends
- The Milagro Center
- The Place of Hope
- Tri-County Animal Rescue
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Vietnam Veterans Affairs
- Wayne Barton Study Center
- Women in Distress