Celebrating the Impact of Good Deeds Month
April 30, 2025 | Events
BY ALLI BERGER & JODI TEITELMAN
We’re proud to be the Baltimore convener of International Good Deeds Day year after year—and this year, we decided to try something new. Expanding Good Deeds Day to Good Deeds Month was a no-brainer for our team. While it can be impressive to have one big day of impact, it’s not so feasible to expect everyone to be available on one day: volunteers, or our partners who host us. Good Deeds Month enabled us to have multiple opportunities for volunteers to get involved, and it allowed us to create deeper volunteer experiences that let people connect with each other and their Jewish values while doing good for the greater Baltimore community.
We’re excited to share a few highlights from this year’s Good Deeds Month:
Did you know that Good Deeds Day began in Israel? To kick off Good Deeds Month, we hosted a program called Noya’s Bears in memory of Noya Dan z”l, who was tragically killed on October 7, 2023. Community members donated stuffed animals, which would be added to a care package and given to students with disabilities at Maiden Choice School. 35 volunteers joined us in making 80 care packages, while learning more about Maiden Choice School and the Baltimore-Ashkelon Partnership.
The actual International Good Deeds Day was April 6, and 94 volunteers of all ages and stages joined in the action. We packed feminine hygiene kits through Dignity Grows, cleaned the Western Run stream with CHAI, served lunch at Our Daily Bread Employment Center, sorted sports equipment at Leveling the Playing Field, and helped in the Second Chance warehouse in partnership with the Associated’s Young Adult Division. It was a jam-packed day with acts of kindness and community building.
Later in the month, 20 volunteers visited Art with a Heart to help finish community clay and coloring projects. The finished products will be sold at Art with a Heart’s retail store, HeARTwares, in Hampden.
Right after Passover, 12 volunteers from the 55+ community led an activity hour at Ronald McDonald House. Volunteers played board games and did art projects with Ronald McDonald House residents, and the hour ended with a fun magic show that residents and volunteers enjoyed together.
Even our littlest community members participated in Good Deeds Month! On the last Friday in April, 16 families joined PJ Library at Meadowood Park to bring in Shabbat, read Tikkun Olam Ted, and assemble seed planting kits, which will be donated to Asylee Women Enterprise.
April wasn’t just Good Deeds Month, but also National Volunteer Month, so we closed out the month by hosting our first-ever volunteer appreciation luncheon! Over 60 of our most frequent volunteers joined together for a delicious lunch and celebration of the good they’ve done this past year. There was no better way to end this month of service.
By expanding our Good Deeds Day experiences over the course of a month, we were able to engage volunteers of all ages and in all neighborhoods in service. Thank you to the 256 volunteers who participated! Stay tuned for more months of service in 2025!
Thank you to Repair the World for contributing to a successful Good Deeds Month.
