The drive to donate food

For the past five years, Temple Bat Yahm member John Bernstein has spent the day after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur overseeing the distribution of several tons of food, which the congregation amasses each year in a large diesel truck outside the temple.

“For the Jewish faith there is the requirement of ‘sedakah,’ essentially being your brother’s keeper and taking care of those who aren’t as well off as you are, and this food drive is really a part of that,” said Bernstein, who oversees the food drive.

This year, the congregation collected more food than ever before, an estimated 15 tons’ worth of canned food and other goods that were distributed to 10 Orange County charities Tuesday.

“We’re giving away a lot of food to a lot of organizations that have a huge need right now because of the economy,” Bernstein said.

“If you’re on the giving end, that’s very rewarding.”

The food was distributed to local nonprofit agencies Tuesday, including the Laguna Beach Friendship Shelter; South County Outreach; Orange County AIDS Foundation; Human Options and Human Options Second Step; Share Our Selves; Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter; Families Forward; Catholic Charities of Orange County and Orange County Rescue Mission.

“In a time when people are hurting, our families stepped up, and we are very proud of that,” Bill Shane said, executive director of Temple Bat Yahm.

Many families donated shopping carts full of food this year, Bernstein said.

Temple Bat Yahm has hosted a food drive each Yom Kippur for the past 18 years. Many Jews fast for a 25-hour period during the holiday.

Considered the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur is a day of atonement, fasting and intense prayer.

The food drive for needy families arose out of a desire to donate food that temple members otherwise would have eaten had they not been fasting during Yom Kippur.

South County Outreach, a nonprofit organization that supplies needy families from Irvine to San Clemente with food and housing assistance grants, received 1,770 pounds of food from Temple Bat Yahm’s food drive Tuesday.

The food will help South County Outreach feed an average of 150 new families the nonprofit has seen each month this year, said Ken Carpenter, the group’s client services director.

“All these middle-class people have lost their businesses and their savings,” Carpenter said. “Middle-class people are losing their jobs and can’t pay their rent.”

The increase in demand has put a strain on South County Outreach’s resources, so the Yom Kippur contributions Tuesday provided much-needed relief, Carpenter said.

“They’re tremendous people — this is going to help us get through the next three months,” he said.