I will soon complete my 1000th mitzvah, after more than 2 years working on this project. I have learned so much and am amazed what doors have opened since I decided to share my story. People have been asking me what I was going to do for the 1000th one. In honor of my Dad, it must be related to food.
My father loved to cook. He made me Cream of Wheat cereal many snowy, cold Vermont mornings. I remember him handing the steaming bowl to me with milk and raisins. It’s still one of my favorite breakfasts. When I grew up, my father and stepmother hosted an engagement party for my husband-to-be and me in their home. Their gift to us was a fabric three-ring binder, filled with recipes from their friends. They also included several of their favorites as well. The binder holds all of our recipes and I pull it out several times a week. For years now, I have made my father’s chicken piccata recipe with just five ingredients. It is easy and delicious. When I think of my Dad, I often think of his great big hands delicately cutting onions or other vegetables, arranging the food just so on the platter or cooking up a storm with some new recipe. I guess cooking is in my genes.
As the economic times have affected so many people, many of the food banks are struggling to keep up with the need. So my request to you TODAY as part of helping me achieve this 1000th mitzvah is to give food or money to your local Jewish Family Services, food bank, shelter, person in need down the street, etc. $1 is equivalent to 5 lbs of food. Please give generously. Sign your name on the comments after you have donated. Thank you for joining me in my mitzvah project.
If you live in the Portland metro area here are a couple of suggestions:
Oregon Food Bank PO Box 55370 Portland, OR www.oregonfoodbank.org
Sunshine Pantry 7795 S.W. Cirrus Drive Beaverton, Oregon www.sunshinepantry.org
SW Hope Neighborhood House 7780 SW Capitol Hwy Portland, Oregon www.swhope.org
1,000 Mitzvahs 
Hi Linda!
So excited you are nearing your 1000 mark, and in its honor, I am going to donate to our Jewish Family Service Fund.
I was so happy to see you had been on the local program, and am so very happy that I can call you my friend.
Mitzvot – large and small – beget other Mitzvot – and when we focus on them, and are grateful for the ones we receive, we really, truly are repairing the world.
You are a shining star, not only for our faith, but in your Father’s memory. So proud of you!
Deb
Interesting blog, I’ll try and spread the word.
What a great story in The Oregonian’s Washington County Weekly today. Your idea is fantastic and the blog is extremely compelling. I donated to The Oregon Food Bank as a result – thanks for the nudge.
Deb H.
I donated food to my local food bank today in honor of your 1000th Mitzvah! Mazel Tov on reaching such an amazing accomplishment! Check out my blog posting here:
http://365daysofgoodness.com/2009/03/30/supporting-sharing-doing/
Linda,
I am so excited for you – #1,000 is right around the corner. I know your Dad must be so proud of you…
I’m truly honored to be a part of your goal! I was looking at what you suggested and decided that there is a young lady (young at heart) living on a fixed income as many of that age do. She is such a ray of sunshine to me and many others.
In honor of your 1,000th mitzva, I’m donating a $20.00 grocery store gift card.
Thank you for your blog and for all you do to inspire others on their own personal journey to make a difference.
Oh, and I loved the article by Jenn on you…it was a great piece and wonderful picture.
Hi Linda,
In your honor, I took some food to the Good Neighbor Center, Greenburg Road, Tigard, OR. I included a full container of CORNSTARCH. Frankly, I don’t know what to do with it. It thickens gravy, and I avoid gravy.
Really, to have a daughter (and a son) who know how to cook is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s clear you did NOT inherit your knowledge of cooking from me.
When your Dad and I were married, I do recall that we made Cream of Wheat, but I also remember he liked his matzobrie — and later, whenever he ate grits (which is really “cream of corn”) — he preferred these dishes with sugar. We always had two batches: one for me with salt, and for him with sugar.
I am glad you learned to cook from your father, stepmother, grandmother and others in your life. Not to tell tales out of school, my mother’s sister tells me that MY grandmother didn’t cook very well, and neither did my mother.
It was a different time. I was the only child at home, and your grandmother worked with your lawyer grandfather. She made a lot of simple food, but her sauerkraut soup was excellent. One of the best things she made was stuffed peppers. I’ve made those before, but not recently.
Good luck on making your 1,000 mitzvahs. I know your father would be very proud of you, as I am.
Ellen/Mom
Thanks for your lovely comment on my blog, which brought me over here to your wonderful project. The way grief can mark the closing of one door but the opening of others is such a poignant reminder to me to stay hopeful and look for inspiration in every corner.
Today, you’ve inspired me to make another food bank donation, and I’ll check in again cause I love what you’re doing! Your dad would be so proud, I’m sure.