Federation’s Sara & Samuel J. Lessans Good Deeds Week

Thank you for making Good Deeds Week 2023 a resounding success!

Whether you collected food, prepared meals, made care kits, or cleaned up parks, our community found joyful, creative, and meaningful ways to help address pressing issues in Greater Washington. Your generosity and dedication will help our 45 recipient organizations do the essential work of caring for our community’s most vulnerable.

Look at what we accomplished together in 2023!

1,500+ volunteers participated

icon of cycle circle with arrows around three people

70+ projects completed

17 projects to support refugees completed

1,200+ lbs. of food collected and donated

1,200+ meals prepared

Good Deeds Week 2023 Recipient Organizations

A New Leaf Shelter
A Wider Circle
ALIVE!
Bare Necessities Foundation of Montgomery County
Birthday Cakes 4 Free
Bookshelf Project, Inc.
Charles E Smith Life Communities
Cornerstones Embry Rucker Community Shelter
DC Central Kitchen
DC Diaper Bank
DC Vet Center
ECHO
Eco-Arlington
Elizabeth House

Food for Others
Food Justice DMV
Furnish Hope
Gift of Life
Grassroots Crisis Center
Guiding Eyes for the Blind
Inova Blood Services
Interfaith Works
JCADA
JSSA
Katherine Hanley Shelter
KindWorks
Kings and Priests’ Court Int’l Ministries
LaCasa

Loudon County Hunger Relief
Manna Food Bank
Mobile Hope
Montgomery Parks
Nourish Now
PathForward
Riderwood Jewish Community
Sacred Grounds
Sasha Bruce Youthwork
Small Things Matter
So Others Might Eat
So What Else
The Children’s Inn at NIH
Undies for Everyone
Yad Yehuda – Capital Kosher Pantry

Thank you to our Good Deeds Week 2023 Partners

Adas Israel Congregation
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
ADL
Agudas Achim Congregation
American University Hillel
Ben Yehuda Pizza
Bender JCC of Greater Washington
Berman Hebrew Academy
Bet Mishpacha
Bethesda Jewish Congregation
Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington
B’nai Israel Congregation
Capital Camps
Capital Kosher Pantry, a project of Yad Yehuda
Chabad of Silver Spring
Congregation Adat Reyim
Congregation Beth El
Congregation Beth El Montgomery County
Congregation Etz Hayim
Congregation Har Shalom

Congregation Olam Tikvah
Congregation Or Chadash
Congregation Sha’are Shalom
DC Council BBYO J-Serve
Edlavitch DC JCC
Federation’s Next Gen
Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy
Friends of the IDF
Furnish Hope
George Mason Hillel
Gesher Jewish Day School
Gift of Life
Growing Jewish Families
Hillel at the George Washington University
Hillel International
Honeymoon Israel
JCADA
Jewish Council for the Aging’s Heyman Interages
Jews United for Justice
JSSA

Kehilat Pardes-The Rock Creek Synagogue
Kemp Mill Synagogue
Kesher Israel Congregation
Kol Ami Congregation
Kol Shalom
Leading Edge
MILTON
Moishe House Columbia Heights
Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation
OneTable
Oseh Shalom
PJ Library of Greater Washington
Pozez JCC of Northern Virginia
Riderwood Jewish Community
Shaare Tefila Congregation
Sha’are Torah
Sixth & I
Tifereth Israel Congregation
USY
Washington Hebrew Congregation
Yeshiva School of Greater Washington
Young Israel Shomrei Emunah

For more information, please contact [email protected].

Federation’s Good Deeds Week is made possible by Drs. Ellen & Stuart Lessans, in loving memory of Sara & Samuel J. Lessans.

Did you know? As a Greater Washington community member, you are part of the largest Good Deeds Day community partner in North America.

What is Good Deeds Day? Good Deeds Day is an annual, international celebration of Doing Good! Join more than two million volunteers around the world for this day of service. Roll up your sleeves and make an impact through a variety of hands-on volunteer projects.

What types of service projects can I take part in? Whether you want to dance the day away with senior citizens, prepare and serve lunch to the homeless, help unite dogs with their forever homes or even help clean up a local park, your perfect project awaits. Let’s show the international Jewish community Greater Washington’s passion for social action!

 What’s the history behind Good Deeds Day? Businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison conceptualized the idea for Good Deeds Day, and launched it in 2007 by Ruach Tova (“Good Spirit” in Hebrew), the leading organization in the field of volunteering in Israel. Good Deeds Day celebrates the value and importance of giving back to the community we live in.

Image with play button to play video. Copy reads' "Everyone Deserves Care"

Need Support? Call 703-J-CARING: The Jewish Community Support Line
Call (703) J-CARING (703-522-7464) to connect with a professional ready to assist you. Serving residents of DC, MD, and Northern VA, support is available Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. All calls are confidential. Federation, JSSA, and our network of human service organizations are here for you.