On Thursday, December 28, Temple Emanu-El hosted the Children’s Village Annual Holiday party in I. M. Wise Hall. What a truly wonderful and festive celebration as over 125 children and their foster parents enjoyed a delicious meal and scrumptious desserts. 45 staff members from the Children’s Village also attended, as many of them work closely with the families. So many happy faces as each child received a Winter Wish that was age- and gender-appropriate from Santa Claus. The children were entertained with glitter tattoos and carnival games which were a huge hit!

These children may not have received a gift for Christmas this year, which makes this even more moving. This is the third opportunity Temple Emanu-El has had to host this party. Hopefully this will become an annual event! The theme was a “Christmas Wonderland” and Temple Emanu-El volunteers decorated I.M. Wise Hall and it looked very festive! A huge thank you to all who were there to support this very important cause. The children and their families were so excited and had so much fun. It is very difficult to express the emotion in the room that day. To see these young children so very happy for a short time during the day was overwhelming. Their lives are in a state of turbulence and Temple Emanu-El is so blessed to be able to provide support and a sense of community for a few hours during the holiday season to make their days a bit brighter.

The Children’s Village was founded in 1851, and today, their mission remains very much the same: they work in partnership with families to help society’s most vulnerable children so that they become educationally proficient, economically productive, and socially responsible members of their communities.

Many, Many thanks to Jesus Toribio, our staff, John O’Hara and Mark Heutlinger as without their support we would not be able to fulfill so many of our Mitzvah’s.

Temple Emanu-El and all of our volunteers are so blessed to be able to assist those who need support, showing that people within the community really do care as we share comfort, conversation and compassion.

Learn how you can get involved with Tikkun Olam at Temple Emanu-El.