BOCA RATON, Fla. — A Thanksgiving tradition continued Sunday for the Jewish community in Boca Raton.
Jewish Family Services delivered over 500 meals full of Thanksgiving favorites to over 300 households for their second annual Thanksgiving to-go.
These meals were for vulnerable members of the Jewish Family Services, many of which include holocaust survivors and other participants of the center.
"One of the things that they always really enjoy is any time there's a delivery of food to them by volunteers, especially volunteers with children is just so much enjoyment that they get to interact with a younger generation," said Danielle Hartman, the president/CEO of Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services. "So we get a lot of letters we get a lot of phone calls thanking us and it really makes people feel good, they feel like the community cares about them and that they're not forgotten at this time of year."
According to the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, one in three Jewish adults say they're in a worse financial situation since before the pandemic, and one in five Jewish professionals have lost their jobs.
"When the pandemic struck, and we had to seize the in-person event, it was important to keep the continuity because so many older adults have been so isolated during COVID that we really felt it was important to show them that continued sense of community by bringing Thanksgiving to them." said Hartman.
Volunteers started arriving around 8 a.m. to prepare the meals and delivered them from 10 a.m. to noon.
The event is being sponsored by Edith Stein and Etta and Raymond Zimmerman, longtime funders of the banquet.