Want to do the mitzvah of saving a life and thus saving the world? Please consider donating a kidney to me. I’m a retiree and member of the KC Jewish community whose kidney function has deteriorated despite my doing all the right things. Though I’m on the list for a kidney from a deceased donor, there are over 100,000 others also waiting. I want to avoid dialysis (which isn’t a cure) as the five-year life expectancy on dialysis is much lower than for breast cancer.

Simcha Gifts, a program of the Chabad House Center, has experienced much success this year in preparing and delivering holiday packages to a variety of people within the Jewish community, including seniors living in facilities and their own homes.

For a decade, Melanie Allmayer has served as a spiritual care volunteer through the chaplaincy program at Jewish Family Services. Whether visiting a patient in the hospital or making a call to an older adult living in a long-term care facility, Allmayer continues providing caring conversation, a listening ear and a hand to hold.