Mitzvah Day is a charity that encourages social action in communities, inspired by Jewish beliefs of charity (tzedakah) and acts of kindness (gemilut chasadim). A ‘mitzvah’ in Hebrew means a good deed, and encompasses acts of service, volunteering and looking after the world around us. Every year in November, the charity hosts a ‘Mitzvah Day’, where they encourage as many people as possible, of all ages, to give back to those around them. Mitzvah Day encourages us to think about what we can do by giving our time to others, instead of our money. The aim is to make a difference to the local community around us.
We feel that this is a shared belief that we, as a school, highly value. For the third year, we wanted the children at HTSS to be able to experience our Christian value of Service, by giving them the opportunity to give back, as well as take part in interfaith work. This year, Holy Trinity and St Silas took part in Mitzvah Day! In our school, this meant group service projects in all aspects of the community. Each class had a chance to interact with different faiths and various parts of our community, giving their time not money to make a difference.
We started the day dressing in green! Instead of money for wearing home clothes, we donated to the Chalk Farm food bank.
Reception made gift bags filled with chocolate and a homemade card to give to the residents of Maitland Park care home and the congregation at Holy Trinity and St Silas.
Year 1 made bird feeders and hung them up on the branches around the community for the birds to enjoy.
Year 2 made cards for the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
Year 3 spread smiles across the community by making posters with words of kindness and encouragement. They later went out to hang them where people could see them and enjoy them.
Year 4 made animal toys out of old t-shirts that the children brought in. Making the toys required careful concentration but Year 4 persevered and the result was lots of wonderful toys for the animal shelter.
