SA Tzedakah Box

As Reform Jews, we are called to engage in the work  of tikkun olam, improving the world in which we live. One way to participate is through Tzedakah.

All donations made via the Tzedakah Box are designated for a variety of local, national, and global causes that reflect our Jewish values.

 

July and August Tzedakah Box

Give Tzedakah Today Using the Form at the Bottom of this Page

The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham (RCND) is an interfaith and interracial organization whose purpose and success depend on inclusiveness, and  invites people of faith and goodwill to come alongside those most-affected by violence to help prevent and rectify the injustice of violence that segregates our city and diminishes our humanity.

RCND was founded in 1992 by Mr. Leslie Dunbar and Rev. Mel Williams, and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides vigil ministry for surviving loved ones of homicide victims, support circles for citizens returning from incarceration, restorative justice practices to repair the harm caused by wrongdoing, and an array of emergency assistance to those most-affected by violence.

The coalition works with members of Durham’s faith, governmental, educational, health, and advocacy organizations to encourage, facilitate, and promote institutional reform and individual acts of compassion and reconciliation.You are invited to participate in Prayer Vigils, Reentry Ministry, Monthly Community Luncheon Roundtables, and Restorative Justice Durham. 

About every nine days someone is killed in Durham. 

The majority of Durham’s homicide victims die from gunshot wounds. Young African-American men comprise the majority of Durham’s homicide and assault victims. Violence not only takes lives from a community but also its safety. Too many Durham residents, especially children, live in danger of stray bullets, and witness bloodshed and lose loved ones. 

All Tzedakah Box donations in July and August will be given to the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham to provide emergency assistance to those most affected by violence.  

This assistance includes: help with groceries; diapers and household items; prescription drug copays; subsidies for water, gas, and electrical deposits and bills; fees for replacing public documents; rent deposits; automobile parts and repairs; gasoline cards for families to travel to hospital, prayer vigil, or trial; clothing; cell phone service for job seekers; funeral urns; burial markers; and materials about traumatic grief.

Bearing Witness

The comments below were shared by fellow Judea Reform congregants who have been connected to and deeply moved by their work with the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham (RCND.)

Several years ago, I had the fortune of working with several members of Judea Reform on a reentry program through the RCND.  I personally found the experience not only insightful as I learned of the inequitable treatments which form the basis of our systems of incarceration, but also empowering, as I was able to share with the growth of people working to rebuild their lives.  
— Henry Rice, M.D.

In order to bring restorative justice to our community, the RCND reaches out to everyone affected by violence in Durham – the victims, their families, the people in their neighborhoods and the people who inflicted the violence.   My experiences working with an ex-prisoner returning to live in Durham taught me the need to create opportunities for parolees to be successful during their reintegration into the community is critical in addressing violence in a meaningful, long-term manner.
— Chip Carnathan

As a longtime supporter of the RCND and former member of Judea Reform Congregation’s Reentry Team at RCND,  I was honored to recently become a member of their Board of Directors. Violence takes the lives of too many in our community and leaves an absence that cannot be filled. The RCND has been an invaluable part of Durham for over 25 years, serving to reaffirm our humanity as we work towards a more equitable future through justice, love and belonging. 
— Jackie Kaufman

 

For more information email nonviolentdurham@gmail.com or contact socialaction@judeareform.org.

 

Donation Form