SALT LAKE CITY -- Many from the Jewish Congregation Kol Ami participated in Mitzvah Day on Sunday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Mitzvah Day is a day of service projects, and participants made sack lunches, hygiene kits, fleece blankets and other items to give to those in need. The synagogue also hosted a blood drive for the American Red Cross throughout the day Sunday.
Pamela Silberman is a committee chairperson for Mitzvah Day, and she said the event is a way to tie Dr. King’s legacy to the Jewish value of Tikkun olam, or “repairing the world.”
“The idea is that we are very lucky to have all that we have, and our obligation as Jews is to help others who maybe are not as fortunate as ourselves,” she said. “So it’s the idea that we come together and do a fun service project, but it benefits people who maybe are less fortunate than ourselves.
Some of the items volunteers made are being sent to homeless families and others to children who are sick or who have experienced a traumatic situation.
