A new season of volunteering with Ve’ahavta!

A new season of volunteering with Ve’ahavta!

By Megan Stephens, Director, Holy Blossom Temple Board

On Thursday, May 1, HBT board members spent the evening on the Ve’ahavta vans, helping to launch our community into another season of collaborating with Ve’ahavta to help the most needy in our city. Thursday was a cold and rainy evening, and coffee was in high demand; a reminder of how welcome and necessary Ve’ahavta’s services are.

Ask anyone who has volunteered on the Ve’ahavta vans: it is a meaningful experience that opens your eyes to the challenges faced by the unhoused, the rough-housed, and others who have fallen through the cracks of our social safety net. As volunteers, you help give out food, hot drinks, clothing, and other essential supplies (like toiletries, sleeping bags, shoes, etc.) at regular stops either in Toronto or Scarborough & North York. If you haven’t volunteered with Ve’ahvata but have with Holy Blossom’s Out of the Cold, Ve’ahavta is a bit like taking Out of the Cold on the road (except there’s no bingo)!

Volunteering with Ve’ahavta, like Out of the Cold, gives you the opportunity to put our Jewish values into action, underscoring the importance of tikkun olam and tzedakah to our community.

Ve’ahavta sends two vans with volunteers and staff out into the community every night.

For the spring, summer, and fall of 2025, the Holy Blossom community has committed to place volunteers on the vans for two shifts a month, rotating between Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please consider signing up for an evening – whether on your own, with friends, or with family. They need three volunteers to join the two staff members in the van. The shifts specific to the Holy Blossom community include the following:

Tuesday, May 13 – North York/Scarborough
Thursday, May 29 – Downtown
Tuesday, June 10 – North York/Scarborough
Thursday, June 26 – Downtown
Tuesday, July 8 – North York/Scarborough
Thursday, July 24 – Downtown
Tuesday, August 5 – North York/Scarborough
Thursday, August 21 – Downtown
Tuesday, September 2 – North York/Scarborough
Thursday, September 18 – Downtown
Sunday, September 28 – North York/Scarborough (Sundays are afternoon shifts, which may be more convenient for some)
Thursday, October 16 – Downtown
Tuesday, October 28 – North York/Scarborough

Ve’ahavta has an online volunteer portal that will allow you to access the Holy Blossom specific van opportunities (and sign up for either the Toronto or North/York Scarborough van).

If you volunteered last year through Holy Blossom, you should already be in the system and can go ahead and book some shifts.

If you haven’t previously volunteered, please follow the steps below to get yourself registered to volunteer. It’s less daunting than it seems!

1. Create an account in Bloomerang Volunteer, the self-serve Ve’ahavta registration portal. Here is the link (with full instructions further down): online volunteer portal (See further details below about this).
2. Once the volunteer has completed registration, email [email protected]g to notify us that they have registered. Ve’ahavta will add your name to the exclusive Holy Blossom MJRH outreach van opportunity. When you log into Bloomerang with your password, you must go to My Opportunities, where you will see the Holy Blossom van opportunity. Click on that, and you will have access to the shift calendar to book their desired shift date.

Instructions to create an account in Bloomerang Volunteer.

1. STEP ONE: Please create your account in our online volunteer portal. If you like receiving phone notifications/reminders, you should download the Bloomerang Volunteer mobile app (Android or IOS) to manage your profile, check in for your shift, book additional shifts, and more!
2. STEP TWO: Select the opportunity you are interested in by clicking on Search Opportunities in the toolbar. Each opportunity has its own green button with PLUS + sign. Opportunities include MJRH Outreach van, Upper Shelf Warehouse, Make-A-Meal, Make-A-Blanket, etc…For some opportunities, there will be a video for you to watch, questions or guidelines you will have to review.
3. STEP THREE: Book your shifts – Upon selection of opportunities and agreeing to the conditions for participation, you are now ready to access the full schedule of available shifts.

If you have any questions about the process, please email [email protected]

If you have any Holy Blossom-specific questions about volunteering with Ve’ahavta, please email me at [email protected].

Thank you! We look forward to seeing our community out helping in the city this spring, summer and fall.