Sigma Delta Tau

By: Pam Benjamin Borstein, Chi-University of Michigan

Since its inception three years ago, the Cleveland SDT Alumnae have participated in the Alumnae Day of Service. We decided to partner with the Hebrew Shelter Home that is run by the Jewish Family Service Association (JFSA) of Cleveland. I contacted the director of JFSA and she suggested we create Sukkot decorations for the home’s Sukkah. The holiday of Sukkot started that evening.

We had 19 people attend the Cleveland Day of Service event. The women walked in and couldn’t wait to get started on the crafts. One of the sisters even brought her adult daughter who loves to craft. We had a guest speaker which was an idea from the Director at JFSA. A social worker from the Home came and talked about the home and the residents. After the social worker left, we went around the room, introduced ourselves and talked about our experience with SDT. One of the women was a sister from Alpha Chapter and had not done anything with SDT for 50 years, but this event spoke to her.

The women were really excited and have already decided they want to continue our relationship with the home and do something with them for Hanukkah.

We received this thank you note from the shelter:

Dear Friends of Sigma Delta Tau:

Thank you for making Sukkot extra special for the clients at the Shelter Home.The decorations were beautiful and made our Sukkah look great! There were so many decorations that we brought a few into the shelter and decorated the dining room and table with them. The tablecloth and flowers added the perfect touch!!

Also, the thoughtfulness that you showed by donating paper products, soaps, lotions and wet wipes was much appreciated by the clients. With a nearly full shelter, we are using a lot of products and your donations will come in handy.

Thank you again, and I truly appreciate what a great job you ladies did, and the time and effort spent to bring joy to the Shelter Home!!

Sincerely,

Tammi