Your Temple Sinai RAIHN team is pleased to announce that the first recipient of the RAIHN Volunteer of the Month award is the Diggory Family. As the Activities Coordinator for RAIHN, Lorri, with
great enthusiasm, amassed an impressive array of games, toys and crafts for our guests to enjoy. She insures that our guests have fun options during their stay by arranging cupcake decorating contests, BINGO, crafts nights and storytelling. John, Lorri's husband, graciously assists with each set-up and take-down of these activities, schlepping giant totes full of toys, games and crafts. Their son, Jordan, who also carts those heavy totes raised enough money through the Hebrew school to buy an X-box that is enjoyed by parents, kids and volunteers alike. And we can always count on their daughter, Ariana, to be there on a Friday night to play with the RAIHN kids.
Here are a few comments from the Diggorys about what RAIHN means to them: Why the Diggory Family Loves Volunteering for RAIHN Lorri: so many reasons such as the incredible feeling that comes from doing for others; the chance to do a mitzvah as a family in which both my kids (who are 5 ½ years apart in age) and the adults all gain so much from it and can each participate in their own way; the chance to connect with families from different cultures and demographics that we ordinarily wouldn’t get to meet and the added bonus of getting to know Sinai members with whom we don’t normally cross paths.
Ariana: I like making new friends and I feel good when I help set up for the RAIHN families.
Jordan: I like participating in RAIHN because it feels good to know I’m doing something to help families. I also like making new friends.
John: I enjoy working with RAIHN because it gives me the opportunity to help someone build a better life; for themselves and their family.
More About RAIHN
RochesterArea Interfaith Hospitality Network
Thanks to Temple Sinai President Liz Ornstein, many of you are asking about RAIHN. Here in Rochester, RAIHN plays a vital role in providing temporary housing to intact families who have fallen on hard times. The families who are served by RAIHN, are carefully interviewed by Erica Vera, the network director who is also a social worker. RAIHN families may not have any current drug or alcohol abuse issues, and we do not accept families with untreated mental illness. In Rochester, there are temporary housing options for single men, women with children, and children without guardians. But there are few options for families that want to stay together. We are housing people who do not qualify for placement in any other programs.
In 2005 Temple Sinai hosted families in March, July, September, and December. Forty-three people, for a total of 15 families stayed with us during those 4 hosting weeks. We even created “Christmas” for the families who stayed with us in December.
What can you do?
There is really something for everyone! Do you like to cook? Then you can cook part of dinner. Do you like to play with kids, mingle with adults? Then you can sign up to volunteer or do an activity during our host week. Would you like to get away for the night? Then sleeping over at Temple might be just the thing for you. Are you more comfortable doing behind the scenes work? Then you can help our set-up team before the guests arrive. And for those of you who prefer doing a mitzvah at your own pace, why, there is even laundry to be done after the guests leave!
Call or write if you are willing to help.
Sue Stanger slstanger@yahoo.com359-4295
