Our Annual, Flagship Day of Mitzvot is Coming!
While we as Jews serve our communities year-round, Mitzvah Day is an opportunity to act together as a congregation to make positive change. On March 15, learn about new ways to help, share your passion for service, or reignite prior volunteer commitments all the while meeting and connecting with your fellow congregants. With dozens of organizations to support and opportunities both on- and off-campus, there’s an opportunity for everyone at Mitzvah Day!
Questions about a specific project?
Contact the captain (emails included in project descriptions below).
Questions in general?
Contact [email protected].
Mitzvah Day is made possible by Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am and has been an annual event since 1989.
Project Captain Contact Information
Captains: Lindsey Friedman ([email protected]) + Todd Friedman ([email protected])
Location: Virginia Key
Time: 9:30 AM-12:00 PM
Ages: All ages
Volunteer with Miami Waterkeeper, a non-profit dedicated to clean water, ecosystem protection, and sea-level-rise resiliency, to clean up our beaches and learn about the negative impacts of marine debris and microplastics.
Captain: Eli Loeb + Jessica Bolson ([email protected])
Location: TBAM
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: 21+
Participate in Eli’s Bar Mitzvah project and find out if you are someone’s match! With the swab of your cheeks, you can join the National Bone Marrow Registry to see if your blood stem cells qualify you to be a donor to someone in need.
Captains: Brenda Kilmer ([email protected])
Location: TBAM Overhang
Ages: All ages
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Donate your gently used books (baby/children’s, young adult and adult) to support various adult and child-development organizations, including The Children’s Trust, Books for Free, the Jewish Home for the Aged and many more.
Captain: Nessia Kushner ([email protected])
Location: TBAM Social Hall
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: All ages
We are collecting children’s books to share the joy of reading with elementary school (K-5) students served by Achieve Miami. Come with your child(ren), to TBAM, with books that they have read, but are ready to pass on to another child. Each donated book will become a special gift that includes a handwritten note sharing encouragement, kindness and a love of reading.
Captains: Susan Rosenthal ([email protected]) + Pam Misrahi ([email protected])
Location: TBAM Parking Lot – Big Red Bus
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: 16+
Donate blood (whole blood and platelets) to enhance the health and well-being of others and facilitate scientific research through OneBlood’s work with blood and stem cell products.
Captain: Caroline Miller ([email protected])
Location: Miami Children’s Museum (980 MacArthur Causeway, Miami, FL 33132)
Time: 2 PM – 5 PM
Ages: Families with children 4-12 years old will have the most fun playing with Lotus House attendees (ages 4-10).
Lotus House aims to improve the lives of women, youth and kids experiencing homelessness by providing sanctuary, support, education, tools and resources. Come be a kid again at the Miami Children’s Museum alongside our Lotus House neighbors as we explore and enjoy the magic of the Museum through a craft activity, playtime in the museum exhibits and pizza.
Captain: Brooke Lam ([email protected])
Location: TBAM Social Hall
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: 10+
Enjoy a social mahjong experience centered on connection, play, and purpose. Sign up as a group or join a table to meet new players. Please note this is not a lesson. This event is intended for those with a basic understanding of the game, with Brooke available to offer some guidance as needed. Proceeds will benefit the Endometriosis Foundation of America.
Captain: Anne Becker ([email protected])
Location: TBAM
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Join your 6-inch squares to make blankets for survivors of October 7 in Israel. There will be needles with large eyes and crochet hooks available, but if you have your own please bring!
Captain: Becca Holljes ([email protected])
Location: 25800 SW 182nd Ave and TBAM (drive-thru)
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Ages: 9+ (parental supervision required for volunteers ages 9-17)
Redland Dog Sanctuary is a no-kill, nurturing animal shelter in Homestead that works diligently to rescue and rehab dogs so they may be adopted into forever homes. Spend time with the dogs and participate in facility clean up, organization and improvement projects.
Captain: Jack Kushner and Jeanne Kushner ([email protected])
Location: TBAM Social Hall
Time: 9 AM – 10 AM (prepare sandwiches), 10 AM (load cars), 10:30 AM (deliver to community fridges)
Ages: All ages (parent supervision req’d for kids under age 13)
Support Buddy System’s initiative to combat food insecurity by making sandwiches and restocking multiple community fridges around Miami. (Donations of loaves of bread, Sunbutter, squeezable grape and squeezable strawberry jelly, packages of turkey cold cuts, mustard and mayonnaise appreciated. Once registered a sign-up list will be sent to you to sign up for donations and to volunteer to be a driver.)
Captain: Lindsey Lamchick ([email protected])
Location: TBAM
Time: 9 AM – 10 AM
Ages: All ages
Younger children and families will decorate disco ball items and create cards with messages of hope and support, while older children and adults assemble seatbelt port pillows (small, soft pillows designed to protect the chest area for patients with ports during car rides). Each item will include a thoughtful note, reminding recipients that they are seen, supported, and not alone.
Captain: Alyssa Gold ([email protected])
Location: 1145 NW 14 Terr.
Time: 10 AM – 1 PM
Ages: 11+ (kids must be accompanied by a parent)
Prepare a home-cooked lunch and participate in a craft project for out-of-town families with children receiving treatment at Jackson Memorial Hospital. RMHC supports the well-being of critically ill children and their families by providing lodging, meals, activities and care.
Captains: Rooney Brodie ([email protected]) + Laura Greer Haim ([email protected])
Location: Milam’s Market, 11701 S Dixie Hwy, Pinecrest Plaza
Time: Various (see online)
Ages: All ages
Enjoy a family-friendly morning to support JCS and the Kosher Food Bank with this two part activity perfect for families with young kids. First, grab your Milam’s grocery cart and go on a scavenger hunt to stock-up on essential groceries to replenish the KFB. Once you find everything and pay, package the items at Milam’s in a basket to distribute to local families in need.
Captain: Jeff Agron ([email protected])
Location: Mitzvah Kitchen, 8700 SW 112th Street Miami, FL 33176
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: All ages
Join Temple Beth Am’s Brotherhood to prepare and cook meals. Your hard work will benefit those at the Kosher Food Bank.
Captain: Jennifer Warren Medwin ([email protected])
Location: TBAM Social Hall
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: All ages
Create handwritten cards for the children from Tikva Children’s Home who’ve been displaced by the war in Ukraine. We’ll also make video messages offering words of encouragement to Tikva graduates living in Israel and serving in the IDF.
Captains: Lindsey Wolfson ([email protected]) + Randi Wolfson ([email protected]) + Yonah Janowitz ([email protected])
Location: The Village at Casa Familia 10951 SW 84th Street Miami, FL 33173
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: All ages
The CLEO Institute and Friends of the TBAM Garden have joined forces this year to plant trees for Mitzvah Day at the Village at Casa Familia, a first-of-its-kind affordable housing community with features, amenities, and services designed to benefit adults with intellectual, developmental and other related disabilities in South Florida.
Captain: Kadie Black ([email protected])
Location: TBAM Overhang
Time: 9 AM – 12 PM
Ages: All ages
Help the children of Miami-Dade’s foster system with the Voices For Children Foundation by purchasing and donating full-size toiletries and sanitary products. Your donations will be assembled into comfort kits for each child.
Mitzvah Day Leadership Team
Rabbi Rachel Greengrass, Clergy Liaison
Stephanie Adar and Dana Spector, Mitzvah Day Co-Chairs
Jeanne Kushner, Tikkun Olam President
Rebecca Holljes, Tikkun Olam VP, TBAM Board of Directors
Alexis Brodie, Tikkun Olam VP Programming
Caroline Miller and Brett Rubin, Tikkun Olam Rambam-PATIO Liaison
Rooney Brodie, Tikkun Olam-YERS Liaison
Ashley Tinstman, Tikkun Olam Marketing Chair
Jessica Steiner, Outgoing Mitzvah Day Chair
Phylicia Cook, B’nai Mitzvah and Auxiliary Groups Coordinator
Mitzvah Day Event Schedule
Sunday, March 15
Mitzvah Day*
8:00AM-9:00 AM: Join us at TBAM in the Social Hall and grab a nosh or head straight to your project.
9:00AM-12:00 PM: On campus projects including donations.
9:00AM-5:00 PM: Off campus projects.
*Start and end times are project specific. Please confirm scheduling details online or with project captains directly. All donations to be left at TBAM must be at TBAM by 12 PM.
Friday, March 21
Tikkun Olam Shabbat: Honoring Mitzvah Day Leaders and Participants!
Temple Beth Am Sanctuary
6:00 PM: Pre-Neg
6:30 PM: Shabbat service and honors
Take a Look Back
View photos and video from Mitzvah Day 2025!