Local Jewish community members step up when everyone is home for Christmas
When nonprofits and social service agencies are understaffed on Christmas Day, the local Jewish community has historically stepped up, part of a tradition that’s nearly four decades old.
The Edlavitch D.C. Jewish Community Center’s annual Dec. 25 Day of Service is the JCC’s largest volunteer event of the year, according to Sonya Weisburd, the EDCJCC’s director of social impact.
“D25 started in 1986 when I imagine nothing was open at all on Christmas Day, and a group of Jewish folks who had the day off wanted to help people,” Weisburd said, adding that these community members approached the EDCJCC asking for volunteer opportunities. “A lot of social service agencies are short-staffed. A lot of folks want to take off for Christmas and so we’re happy to fill in those spots to give back.”
Others, who aren’t necessarily Jewish, have made D25 a yearly Christmas tradition.
Now in its 38th year, D25 is still going strong. The first night of Chanukah coinciding with Christmas Day didn’t deter the 525 volunteers who showed up to lend a hand across the D.C. metropolitan area on Dec. 25, 2024.
Weisburd said volunteers of all ages spread “holiday cheer” around the community through preparing and serving meals, singing carols, throwing holiday parties or playing bingo. The EDCJCC partners with about 25 agencies, some all year round, and others just for D25.
Although the Day of Service is one day only, it falls on an important day of the year for those who may not have family to visit for Christmas, a holiday that many people in the District celebrate. Some unhoused community members travel to see their family, while others don’t have that opportunity.
“Our volunteers are the only people who’re going to come bring them Christmas joy,” Weisburd said.
D25 volunteers bring gifts, baked goods, chocolates, board games, crafts and companionship to local homeless shelters, inpatient mental health facilities, nursing homes and hospice care facilities.
“These folks are not going anywhere; they can’t leave [their facilities],” Weisburd said. “So it’s a really special day for both the givers and the receivers.”
She said the program gets a lot of positive feedback from testimonials explaining D25’s impact on clients: “Having our volunteers is really helpful; it can’t be understated.”
Weisburd recalled a volunteer who visited St. Elizabeths Psychiatric Hospital in Southwest D.C. and asked a patient there how her day was going.
“The woman was like, ‘It’s pretty terrible; it’s not been a good day,’” Weisburd said. “Then, afterwards, the woman came up to our volunteer and [said], ‘My day is so much better now that you guys were here.’”
She said the volunteers’ kindness and quality time really makes a difference, notably for the patient at the psychiatric hospital: “It’s so simple, right? They just played bingo.”
Since volunteers younger than age 12 are not allowed entry into many social service agencies, especially homeless shelters, children stayed at the EDCJCC to make meal kits, create cards for emergency personnel working on Christmas Day and other volunteer activities.
D25 is some community members’ first time volunteering, Weisburd said.
“I get emails back from people telling us about their experience, and they’re like, ‘It really made us reflect on what we have. This made me reflect on homelessness in our city and think about how we talk to our kids about these topics,’” Weisburd said.
Others have been participating for decades, with a few volunteers who attended the first D25 in 1986. Weisburd said one regular volunteer lived in D.C. in the 1990s and moved away, and upon moving back, she discovered that D25 was still ongoing: “‘I can’t believe you guys are still doing this.’”
“These people have gotten married and had kids, [and] now they bring their kids,” Weisburd said. “Now they bring their nieces and nephews.”
One change from the early days is that D25 recently added opportunities to help refugees. Volunteers can choose to help furnish apartments for refugees or deliver gifts to refugee families, both through Lutheran Social Services.
“We think [D25] makes a huge impact,” Weisburd said. “We certainly have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
“A lot of people know us for Dec. 25 Day of Service, but it’s like a blip on the calendar, and we encourage everyone to come back and volunteer with us year-round … more than just during the holiday season.”
