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November 22, 2002
Mitzvah on a milk truck
BAILA LAZARUS EDITOR
After two years in the making, Operation Special Delivery is finally
under way. A joint project between Jewish Women International/ Canada-B.C.
chapter (JWI/C-BC) and the Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA),
the program delivers fresh, perishable dairy foods and other staples
to low-income members of the Jewish community.
The packages, which contain such products as eggs, milk, yogurt
and fresh bread are paid for by individual and corporate donors
and are dropped off by Dairyland through its home delivery service.
The products are selected based on the Canada Food Guide requirements.
Operation Special Delivery was the brainchild of Peppa Martin, a
JWI member and JFSA board member. She thought that many people in
the Jewish community were interested in helping out less-fortunate
families by providing them with food items, but didn't have time
to drop off food at the food bank. As well, it meant that those
in need had to make their way to the food bank and would not have
the benefit of fresh, perishable goods.
"I always thought many people really wanted to help out but
said, 'If only I could just write a cheque,' " said Martin.
With this new program, those who want to do a mitzvah simply put
the financial donation on a credit card and Operation Special Delivery
does the rest.
The way the program works, Dairyland Home Service makes up crates
of food that total $5 or $10. Sponsors donate money that covers
costs for Dairyland, who gets lists of family addresses from the
JFSA. Each week, those families are added to the already established
Dairyland routes and a complimentary parcel of foods are delivered
to their door.
As an donor, you choose how many weeks each month you would like
to "send" a crate, and how many months you'd like to cover,
with a minimum starting period of three months. Individual donors
donate $5 each week, while corporate sponsors donate $10. Individual
donors who would like to sponsor a family for two weeks per month,
for example, commit themselves to a total of only $30. They can
choose to sponsor more per month or for a longer period of time,
but they are not obligated to do so. Individual donations can be
made by credit card and are fully tax deductible. Corporate donations
are made through pre-authorized debit.
Currently, there are approximately 50 donors and 400 families involved
in the project.
In addition to providing free delivery of the food, at the end of
the year, Dairyland Home Service will calculate the total value
of all contributions made and will donate three per cent of that
to the Jewish Food Bank.
Based on the success of Operation Special Delivery in Vancouver,
JWI and JFSA will look at implementing the same project in Edmonton,
Toronto and Montreal.
Those interested in getting involved, either as an individual or
corporate sponsor, can call 604-257-5151.
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