Union for Reform Judaism / Social Action / Take Action / Volunteer Opportunities / Gulf Coast Volunteer Opportunities
Social Action
 
Gulf Coast Volunteering

 

The Gulf Coast is still in need of volunteers since the 2005 hurricane season. This webpage provides resources to help you plan a volunteer trip to the area including contact information for volunteer organizations, local Reform congregations, stories from past trips and educational tools.

 
Photo - Brooklyn Heights Synagogue’s 7th grade B’nai Mitzvah Class Volunteers
Brooklyn Heights Synagogue’s 7th grade B’nai Mitzvah Class Volunteers (1 of 6)
Quick Links  
 
Travel with the Union for Reform Judaism  
Join KESHER and URJ College Programs for a 5-day service trip to New Orleans to continue Judaism’s commitment to tikkun olam. 
 
Youth Mitzvah Corps of the South, Summer 2009
10-12th graders will spend two weeks in New Orleans working on a Gulf Coast relief project that focuses on economic and social justice issues.
Sample Worship Materials  
 
Educational & Jewish Text Study Materials  
News Photos of Hurricane Katrina: A Discussion
Questions to supplement a showing of Hurricane Katrina news photo galleries.
When the Levees Broke: An HBO Special
A Hurricane Katrina documentary by Spike Lee.
When the Levees Broke Curriculum
Curriculum for adults and teens to supplement "When the Levees Broke."
Text Study - Jewish Duty to Protest
As citizens and Jews, what is our role in protesting wrongdoings?
Love Note to New Orleans
A poem to help frame a conversation about the challenges of rebuilding New Orleans.
New Orleans or Baghdad?
Article: Is New Orleans seen as "part of our country?"
Local Teens Join Mitzvah Corps and Strive to Do 'Something Productive'
Article from the Jewish Exponent on Gulf Coast Mitzvah Corps project.
Sample Volunteer Group Itinerary  

Union for Reform Judaism congregations have played an important role in helping to rebuild the Gulf Coast region. The following volunteer trip itineraries can be used as a resource in planning your own congregation’s trip:

Volunteer Expeditions
Volunteer Expeditions is a trip-planning service developed to assist Jewish volunteer delegations traveling to New Orleans.

Volunteer Stories  
Building a Women's Shelter in New Orleans
Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie, LA oversees the New Orleans Women's Shelter, a transitional housing facility for homeless women and children.
Gulf Coast Relief – A Call to Arms
By Hilary Oleon, Program Associate, URJ College Department
A Tale of Two Cities
By Betty Signer, Temple Beth El of South Bend, IN - April 2008
Serious Election Issues Overlooked
By Rabbi Fred Guttman, Temple Emanuel of Greensboro, NC - April 2008
KESHER Gulf Coast Relief Blog
KESHER Alternative Spring Break Student Blog - March 2008
7th Grade Students Assist in Katrina Recovery
Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, Brooklyn, NY - January 2008
Voluntourists in the Big Easy (article from The Pioneer Local)
Am Shalom of Chicago, IL - March 2008
Love Rebuilds - Parshat Vayakhel
By Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in Baltimore, MD - February 2008
A Vacation Rebuilding New Orleans—Why Did We Bother?
By Anne Newman for Business Week's Working Parents blog - June 2008
Gulf Coast Cleanup: The Need Continues
By Marissa Kuperschmidt, Summer 2008 Mitzvah Corps of the South participant


Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism
633 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6778
(212) 650-4160 fax 212.650.4229
csarj@urj.org