Friday, January 15, 2016

Day Four: Community Day!


Community day is one of the most important staples of the Carnival schedule. It allows 
participants a chance to learn about and become a part of a number of important organisations and institutions in and around the host city who make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. 2016 saw Carnival participants head to 16 different locations around Sydney to help those in need, learn about their heritage or become educated on other important societal issues and ways we can fix them. Originally 19 wonderful organisations offered to take on participants but unfortunately due to weather activities at Clean up Australia, Save the Children, North West Disability Services and Easy Care Gardening had to be cancelled. A big thank you must also go to Chabad North Shore who offered to take participants at the very last minute!

Community Day organiser Leanne Shelton was over the moon that all her hard work paid off and culminated in a fantastic day of volunteering for all. “While it was a stressful morning of sorting out last minute relocations, all of the reports I’ve heard have been very positive,” Shelton said, “I’d like to thank all the organisations for coming on board and I hope everyone had a memorable experience and will continue to do more volunteering in the future.”


Continue reading down the page for summaries of each individual volunteering experience!

Advantaged Care - Bondi Waters

The 8 Participants who did their volunteering at Bondi Waters Aged Care facility began their experience with a tour around the building before engaging in an inter-generational game of bowling involving both kids and residents. Next, participants sat and ate lunch with residents in the dining room whilst mingling and enjoying each other’s company. Finally, the participants helped residents in their preparations for Australia day.

Resident Pat Kenny had the following to say about Maccabi Carnival’s successful visit to Bondi Waters.

“They have fitted in well and haven’t made any noise. The kids are very well-mannered, something which you don’t see a lot in kids their age these days. I think it’s a lovely concept; years ago there wasn’t anything like this. The residents have really enjoyed having the kids here.”


Animal Welfare League NSW

Participants who volunteered at the Animal Welfare League opened their day by preparing a morning meal for the cats residing there and also had the opportunity to feed it to them whilst brushing and grooming the adorable felines. Following this, participants played with puppies and took a few lucky canines on a walk before engaging in a mini-training session with command and rewards for the dogs.



Arthritis & Osteoporosis NSW

A Brainstorming session about how to raise awareness for arthritis saw participants come up with various ideas for arts, crafts and games to be undertaken at camps run by host organisation Arthritis and Osteoporosis NSW. The kids then helped with administration tasks such as sorting brochures and opening mail.


Assistance Dogs Australia

Fundraising for assistance dogs Australia in Sydney’s CBD was incredibly successful and culminated in the raising hundreds of dollars for their organisation. The highlight of the day was the opportunity to meet a woman whose nephew was the same age as participants and is a beneficiary of the charity.

B'nai B'rith Courage to Care

Courage to Care put on an amazing program for our Maccabi participants; explaining the power of propaganda and the media and, the importance of standing up against bullying and discrimination. The kids then had the opportunity to listen to a holocaust survivor’s story and then create their own powerful posters on a social issue important to them. Some incredible posters were designed which displayed amazing thoughts from our future generation about important societal concerns.



Chabad North Shore

Volunteers at Chabad North Shore had the opportunity to spend time helping out in their vacation care as well as baking challah amongst other activities.

Friendship Circle NSW

Carnival participants were given the opportunity to spend a morning playing games, sport and bonding with Friendship Circle members. Split into groups of three, all participants were able to forge relationships with their Friendship Circle partners at a one on one level. Carnival participants walked away with a new perspective on people with special needs and a desire to ensure that Maccabi and their respective societies becomes more inclusive.

New South Wales participant Ryan Mayer was glowing about his experience at the Friendship Circle:
“We had a lot of fun and it was really interactive with the kids. I loved the person I was working with; she was super great. It’s an awesome experience to be with these kids and learning how they work and feel because a lot of their emotion comes out. It feels great to give back to the community. I’ve never really felt like this when doing community service; we’re making a real difference to real people which is the best thing someone can do.”



Jewish House

Volunteers at Jewish House helped pack gift bags whilst organising the kitchen and cupboards with a stocktake of all the donated food and supplies Jewish house have received. Proceeding this, participants also helped tidy up the house so it stays in tip top shape for the clients who stay there.

Our Big Kitchen

The 65 Carnival kids who visited Our Big Kitchen in Bondi had the opportunity to bake challah from start to finish as well as making cookies for the homeless.

Our Big Kitchen’s Laya Slavin had only good things to say about the participants who she guided through the baking process.

“Maccabi kids are fantastic and have a real ruach about them. It isn’t just challah dough; they are experiencing a lot more than that. Each child has made 2 challahs today. One will be going to their family or their billet’s family and the other is to give to someone to put a smile on their face. They will also be making cookies for the homeless. The kids have been really well behaved and look to be having a great time.”




Oz Harvest Food Rescue

Kids who spent the day at Maccabi’s Offices with OzHarvest spent their time organising and sorting the donations made by Carnival participants this week. They listened intently to a presentation by a representative of the organisation and ensured the foodstuffs were ready for collection.


Stand Up: Jewish Commitment to a Better World

Icebreakers. Listened to the story of Yarrie Bangura, a Sierra Leonan refugee and basically linked it to Jewish responsibility. Because our grandparents too were persecuted it’s our responsibility. Got some inspiration from posters about freedom and liberty and painted a canvas each about what it meant to stand up for what we believe in. Thinking about what we can do to stand up for everyone.



SummitCare Nursing Home Randwick (Frenchman's Lodge)

Participants who visited SummitCare Nursing Home Randwick spent their day meeting the residents and assisting with other activities.

Sydney Jewish Museum

The Sydney Jewish Museum was the biggest of our volunteer locations in terms of the number of participants taken on. 100 Carnival kids spent Community Day at the SJM learning about their heritage and the history of the Jewish people. Beginning with a guided tour around the museum, the participants also heard lectures from SJM staff as well as being treated to a testimonial from a holocaust survivor.

“It’s nice but also sad to see what happened during the World War Two period and hearing from the survivors,” said Tal Levin of Western Australia, “I think learning about the holocaust enhances our Jewish connection and is really important so we never forget what happened in the past.”

Thread Together

Thread Together is an organisation that collects off-season clothing from big clothing brands and donates them to the less fortunate. Participants helped to organise the clothing into sizes and categories so that they were ready for distribution. There were over 140,000 pieces of clothing on site and the organisation is able to help a multitude of charities all over the country by providing them with these clothes.

Together for Humanity

An organisation where there were representatives from 4 different religious beliefs. Amongst the representatives were a Muslim, a Jew, A Christian and an atheist. The participants had the opportunity to ask questions and answer questions around each different stream of faith. Following this, the kids participated in a few different activities which encouraged them to critically think about different global issues and scenarios relating to different cultures and religions.

Wesley Mission


Participants were set the challenge of feeding a homeless person in the best way possible for just $5. The kids learnt a lot about the multitude of reasons why someone may end up homeless and were left with a greater knowledge of the world surrounding homeless men, women and children.

Thanks for reading.

Written by Jake Rosengarten.

Photos by Jess Cohen and Talia Binkin.

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