30 volunteers pack supplies for women in need

By Crissy Toff Special to Hakol

The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley’s Women’s Philanthropy division partnered with the Dignity Grows organization on March 22 for a party where 30 volunteers packed 150 bags full of essential hygiene products for women in need.

Dignity Grows empowers women by providing menstrual and hygiene supplies to those who need them.

Federal benefit programs do not cover items like period products, and people often don’t think to donate them to food pantries. Providing these helps improve selfesteem and self-confidence.

Volunteers for the event included members of the

Jewish community and students from Lehigh University. They all came together to fill zipper-top totes with a month’s supply of soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, and menstrual products.

Each tote included a personal note from the packer inside. Notes ranged from well-wishes to thoughtful quotes to a simple heart with the word “Love” in it, as the night’s littlest packer, Gemma Jones, provided. Jewish Family Service will distribute the totes to those in need in the Lehigh Valley.

“The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, Women’s Philanthropy division, and the Dignity Grows partnership has been great for our community to make an impact, giving women products that would not normally be covered under food stamps or provided by food pantries,” said Dignity Grows program chair Rachel Levin. “This is the sixth packing party in our community. So far we have donated to eight organizations. This round, the bags we packed were given to Family Promise of Allentown and Jewish Family Services.” A special thankyou to Charlie Epstein, who helped make this donation possible in honor of his bar mitzvah. The concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world with good deeds) focuses on the pursuit of social justice and is an essential message of Judaism. There is a notion that Jews bear responsibility not only for their own well-being, but for the welfare of society at large. It is an essential part of our Jewish community to help one another — both our friends and strangers.

If you’re interested in joining the next Dignity Grows tote-packing party, please contact Lee Solomon, the Federation’s associate director of development, at lee@jflv.org.