Simcha Gifts, a program of the Chabad House Center of Kansas City, prepares and delivers holiday packages to a variety of people within the Jewish community, including seniors living in facilities and their own homes.
The next Simcha Gifts distribution will be for Purim. Packing will take place at the Chabad House Center on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 9 a.m., with delivery pick up beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Those wanting to help with packing or delivery can contact volunteer coordinator, Jean Zeldin, at . Anyone who knows of someone who should be receiving a Simcha Gifts holiday package should contact Blumah Wineberg at 913-940-1113.
The goal of the Simcha Gifts is to demonstrates that all members of the community are cared about, regardless of their affiliation. Seniors in nursing homes, retirement centers and their own homes, Holocaust survivors, and many unaffiliated are recipients of a Simcha Gifts holiday package four times each year. Russian holiday brochures are included for Jewish Russian seniors and distributed at the European market.
The program is coming off a successful Hanukkah season; its packages reached nearly a thousand people throughout the Greater Kansas City area.
For the Hanukkah Simcha Gifts, 94 volunteers packed bags with loads of Hanukkah gifts, crafts, and information, and delivered them to 948 Jewish individuals. Simcha Gifts also supplied Hanukkah to-go kits to The J for anyone who needed them, including people traveling during Hanukkah.
A dedicated committee plans and packs the Simcha Gifts packages, and the project brings together young and old to see the importance of community. According to Chabad House Center, ages of participants range from two years old to those in their 80s, including many teenagers.
The Hanukkah information booklet, included in the Simcha Gifts package, was to be used at Hanukkah parties, at home and at area facilities and hospitals. One Simcha Gifts recipient, a woman named Judy, said she celebrated Hanukkah for the first time with family members.
Another recipient, Debbie, told Simcha Gift volunteers, “I was asked to lead a Hanukkah party for staff at the hospital where I work. The Hanukkah brochure helped me prepare for the party. I plan to save it and use it again next year, G-d willing.”
Simcha Gifts for Hanukkah was partially sponsored by Jeff and Marcia Lipsky and their family in memory of their mother, Marjorie Lipsky. The Menorah-to-Go kits for The J were sponsored by the LaPine-Reiz family in memory of their father, Erwin LaPine. David and Alice Jacks Achtenberg made their annual donation for Hanukkah in memory of her mother, Bronia Roslawowski.
Those wanting to sponsor a holiday in honor or in memory of a loved one should call Blumah Wineberg to discuss options. Donations can be sent to Simcha Gifts, 6201 Indian Creek Dr., Overland Park, KS 66207.