Family Promise Volunteers

Click here to sign up to volunteer.
Family Promise Volunteer Opportunities
DINNER SHIFT
Dinner shift starts around 5 pm at the synagogue and involves warming up a catered, kosher meal that the synagogue orders for our guests and the synagogue members who are volunteering. Either Annette or Aleeza will meet you at the synagogue to help you set up for dinner, which is typically served around 6 pm. We ask that volunteers sit at the tables with our guests and take the time to get to know them, welcoming them to our community. We encourage you to bring your children, and we can tell you from our own experience that one of the most memorable activities for our children at Am Yisrael has been the time they have spent getting to know children through Family Promise. Over the years, our families have played games, colored, done puzzles, and enjoyed videos in the synagogue with our guests and their children. It is not enough to house the homeless, we bring our families together to let them know they are welcome in our community and that our families are eager to make them feel at home.
After dinner, we ask the volunteers to check in with each family about their lunch preferences and pack a lunch for each parent/child for the next day. We have containers for people who want leftovers from dinner, and we have food to prepare sandwiches. We also have bagged chips, whole fruit, yogurt, cookies, etc.

OVERNIGHT SHIFT
If you volunteer to do an overnight shift you will arrive at the synagogue around 8 pm as the dinner shift volunteers are leaving. Each family is housed together in a classroom in the school building. Overnight shift volunteers sleep in a separate room with a twin size cot provided by the synagogue. Volunteers bring their own pillow and bedding. Breakfast is typically cold cereal, donuts, and fruit before a van arrives to take the families back to the Family Promise center in Evanston where they go to school/camp and work, etc. Overnight shift volunteers can expect to be able to leave the synagogue anywhere from 7:30 - 8 am.

FOOD DONATIONS
If you sign up to donate specific food items, we will send you a separate email with specific instructions about the acceptable brands, kashrut symbols, and packaging requirements for donated items. We will also let you know when you can drop off your donations at the synagogue.

Thank you for supporting Family Promise!