HELP YOUR TEMPLE COMMUNITY
“BLESS THOSE IN NEED OF HEALING”

Mitzvah Projects

Max F. with display board he created to help raise funds for his Mitzvah Project.	Max F. with the nurse at Westchester Medical Center who helped him hand out hats of hope.  According to Max, delivering the hats was "truly an inspiring experience.  The reactions from the kids were just priceless."
Ariel F. with Taylor H., a patient at Children's Hospital National Medical Center.  Taylor and her mother were thrilled to receive the hat and with the gesture it represented.	Ariel F. with the nurse at Children's Hospital National Medical Center who helped distribute the hats she donated.

Hats of hope are baseball caps with messages of hope and inspiration inside the hat and the word HOPE embroidered under the brim. We have hats with non-religious messages (see back of postcard for details) as well as our newest hat, the MI SHEBEIRACH hat, with the words to DEBBIE FRIEDMAN’S song inside. A portion of our proceeds goes to Hadassah and Chai Lifeline on sales of Mi Shebeirach hats and to secular charities offering hope on sales of non-religious hats.

Our hats can be purchased at our wholesale price of $10 (quantity discounts available) for temple projects.

Many temples have now used our hats as part of Mitzvah and Tzedakah Projects. Here are some of the uses so far:

Mitzvah Projects

"My mother and I went to the Dana Farber Center in Boston, MA and distributed the Hats of Hope for my Bat Mitzvah project.We took about twenty hats and went to the children's floor. There were two kids and a nurse sitting in the playroom. We explained why we were there and the nurse offered the two girls hats. When we gave each of them their purple hats they were so excited. I felt so good when I saw the smile on their faces. They asked to see themselves in the mirror. I had brightened up their day. It made me want to do more. So then we gave out some of the other hats to children on that floor. All the children were so happy to get a hat. I was so happy I did this for my mitzvah project." - Jessica S., age 13

• B’nai Mitzvot have come up with wonderful ideas for distributing hats to those in need. In Westchester County, NY, a student who had lost a family member to cancer several years before her Bat Mitzvah, set up a table at a temple “back to school night” and asked people for donations to purchase hats. She received donations for 40 hats, which she then personally gave to the hospital where her relative was treated. These hats will be given out to patients as they start treatment.
  
  
• The curriculum at many temples includes learning about the obligation of mitzvot. A 7th grade class at a temple in NJ enthusiastically organized a variety of fundraising activities including a car wash, to earn money so that hats could be purchased. On a Sunday morning, the entire class went to a local hospital and gave hats to patients. This fulfilled the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim and left a tangible gift of hope.
  
  
• At our own Temple in MA, a Bat Mitzvah chose to put cans of food inside of the hat to be used as centerpieces at her celebration. In addition, the centerpieces were decorated to make them festive. The entire centerpiece was then donated to a local shelter.

Tzedakah


• A temple in Massachusetts used one week’s tzedakah money brought in by students to purchase hats for firefighters, rescue workers and their families in NYC. The temple’s director of education, who brought along messages from the children, personally delivered them. She was able to tell the students how much the hats meant to the families
  
  
• Who in your community could use hats of hope? Nursing home residents, patients in local hospitals and rehab centers or even a local family going through a difficult time can be given hats.
  
  
• Many temples sponsor Tzedakah fairs where students decide where the funds collected over the year will go. The hats can be sold at Tzedakah fairs to raise money for designated charities.

These are just a few ideas. We know you will have many new and wonderful ways to use our hats to enrich your program. Visit our website and e-mail us your ideas at www.hatsofhope.com. We are planning to add a new page to our site cataloging ideas. Click on our Mi Shebeirach button.

DeeDee, Joan and Wendy

Click for ideas on
Mitzvah and Tzedakah Projects, Fundraisers and Special Events (sisterhood/brotherhood...).