Contact B'nai B'rith

1120 20th Street NW, Suite 300N Washington, D.C. 20036

info@bnaibrith.org

202-857-6600

Atlanta, Georgia – Achim Gate City Lodge 

2021 Events

UNTO EVERY PERSON THERE IS A NAME
Zoom Virtual Program

Date: Thursday, April 8, 2021

​Time: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time

Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2d9WCjyPSHOy75Mu8J4J4A

Since 1989, on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), B’nai B’rith International has been the North American sponsor of the annual “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” ceremony.

We will be gathering on Zoom for a moving program for this year’s Holocaust memorial observance. We will be reading names of Holocaust victims who murdered in WWII, along with their ages and places of death. This program is being conducted by B’nai B’rith lodges nationwide, and its objective is to recognize that there were millions of individual lives lost, not just a large number of people, not just Jewish people – and that it should NEVER AGAIN happen.

Any questions? Please email Harry Lutz harry.lutz.45@gmail.com​.
More info at: Atlanta Jewish Connector


Donation of COVID-19 Relief Kits to Local Atlanta-Area Organizations

​In January 2021, Helen Scherrer-Diamond, president of the B’nai B’rith Achim/Gate City Lodge, spearheaded a donation of COVID-19 relief kits provided by B’nai B’rith International to Atlanta-area organizations. The donation of relief kits are helping local organizations combat coronavirus.

Orchard Senior Living in Brookhaven, Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO), the Crossings at Webb Bridge Road and Visiting Nurse Health System received kits containing a cloth face mask and travel-sized hand sanitizer, both imprinted with the B’nai B’rith logo.    

“The Disaster Relief kits—with the mask and hand sanitizer in the little carry sachet bag—were so well-received and appreciated. It was a privilege to deliver them. I felt proud of B’nai B’rith,” Scherrer-Diamond said.

Alicia Taylor, executive director of VEO, accepted the kits from Scherrer-Diamond. Ginger King, community relations director at Orchard Senior Living, accepted the kits on behalf of Orchard residents.

 

At the Crossings at Webb Bridge Road, a senior living community in Alpharetta, concierge Joycelyn Scott received the kits for residents.

Barbara Moore, manager at Visiting Nurse Health System, accepted the kits to be distributed to 45 nurses.

These kits will help ensure recipients stay safe during the pandemic.

These donations are some of many made as part of B’nai B’rith’s project to provide 3,000 COVID-19 relief kits to communities around the United States. B’nai B’rith community coordinators nationwide are donating kits on behalf of B’nai B’rith to local agencies dedicated to serving their community.

“Every community in America is facing the challenge of responding to the needs of vulnerable populations. We want to be part of the solution and help make sure everyone stays safe,” said Rebecca Saltzman, senior vice president and chair of the B’nai B’rith Disaster and Emergency Relief Committee.

As the U.S. experiences a high level of transmission of the virus, this project is helping people follow the CDC recommendation for the “consistent and correct” use of face masks, as well as guidance to use hand sanitizer when soap and water are not readily available.  Since it began in March 2020, the B’nai B’rith COVID-19 relief campaign has supported projects around the world to help keep people safe and alleviate the effects of the pandemic.

The B’nai B’rith Disaster and Emergency Relief Fund has responded to man-made and natural disasters around the world since 1865. 


2020 Pinch Hitters Program
B’nai B’rith Gift of Talent Extravaganza Provides New Way to Thank Essential Workers This Christmas

Together with the B’nai B’rith Achim Gate City Lodge of Atlanta, Georgia, the B’nai B’rith International Center for Community Action brings you a special gift of talent performance: the 2020 B’nai B’rith Pinch Hitters program.

B’nai B’rith began Pinch Hitters more than 40 years ago across the United States to allow Christian municipal and community service employees to celebrate Christmas with their families. The coronavirus pandemic has prevented in-person programs at the locations where we have volunteered in prior years.

While we couldn’t be there in-person, here are a range of performances to enjoy during the 2020 holiday season and beyond. We’re so excited for you to see the diverse talent we’ve assembled.

Cheers to a happy, healthy and light-filled New Year. Enjoy the show!


Enlighten America
Achim/Gate City Lodge Honors Essay Contest Winners Virtually

Atlanta’s B’nai B’rith Achim/Gate City Lodge held a live online ceremony in August honoring the nine winners of Enlighten America, its annual essay contest for 7th through 9th graders in the Atlanta area. A video of the event can be viewed on B’nai B’rith International’s YouTube channel at: https://youtu.be/vLHXWJLfJzM.

This year, the panel of local judges reviewed 26 compositions by young people whose writing underscored their personal beliefs regarding equality and respectful treatment for all regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation. Their essays incorporated a quote from an American president or world, national or local leader, which they related to current issues in today’s society.

Seventh grader Sophie Grace Thomas, who earned a first-place nod, wrote in her essay: “We can overcome intolerance through a different mindset driven by love, which respects all human beings and supports our ability to live as one.”

Guest speaker B’nai B’rith CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin commented on the contest’s theme, Tolerance, Equality and Respect for All, as he described the shared legacies of the Jewish and African American communities, and noted  the organization’s commitment to civil rights: “B’nai B’rith recognizes that our fight on behalf of the Jewish people includes the same fight for all religious and ethnic groups, to live without fear. Jews and Blacks as minorities found common cause based on our own history and the plight of African Americans; these experiences brought us together to try and create a better, more mutually respectful society.”

The students who submitted the winning essays, judged on content and clarity of expression, were awarded monetary prizes, books and certificates. First, second and third prize categories were designated for recipients in all three grades.   

All the winners signed the Enlighten America Pledge, a personal promise to acknowledge the humanity of all peoples and to educate and inspire others to make a stand against hate and prejudice in their daily lives.

Still timely and important today, B’nai B’rith launched Enlighten America in 2000 as a response to shootings sparked by racial and religious hatred in Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York and elsewhere.

The B’nai B’rith Enlighten America program was the inspiration for our new interactive initiative, None Shall Be Afraid. Read more here, www.bnaibrith.org/none-shall-be-afraid.html.


Previous Events

Photos from September 2019 Events:

 


Unto Every Person There is a Name – May 3, 2019

Since 1989 on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, B’nai B’rith International has been the North American sponsor of “Unto Every Person, There Is a Name” ceremonies. Participants name the victims and where and when they were born and died. The ceremonies occur on the 27th day of the month of Nissan on the Jewish calendar. These observances, created by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, honor more victims each year, as the project collects more names. Learn about the Atlanta Jewish community’s plans for this program at the Atlanta Jewish Connector or at the link below.

Enlighten America Essay Contest for Middle Schoolers

Do you know of any 6th, 7th, or 8th grade students who like to write, and who would like to win $250, $500, or $750 in prize money for the summer?  
 
Enlighten America was Art Link’s (z”l.) personal project of passion! Help us continue his annual student essay contest and support the young people in your life by asking them to share their thoughts on how important respect, tolerance and understanding truly are, and how this can have a positive impact on their self confidence and self esteem.

Click here to view this year’s contest flyer or view it below.

Pinch Hitter Program

The business of caring for the sick and injured and responding to victims of unfortunate situations is a daily task, with no regard for a holiday schedule. While the Jewish community does not celebrate Christmas, many Jews have this holiday off from work. Since 1980, the Pinch Hitter Program has been a wonderful opportunity for Jewish Atlanta to give back to the larger community. The Pinch Hitter Program is our annual community service project where volunteers from the Atlanta Jewish community “go to bat” for non-medical healthcare workers on Christmas Day. In the spirit of the season, B’nai B’rith members and the Jewish community at large will replace Christian workers in hospitals, assisted living facilities and nursing homes, allowing them to spend the day with their families. Employees from these facilities benefit from this gesture of goodwill. The program is organized by our Achim/Gate City Lodge and the B’nai B’rith Center for Community Action.

In 2018 we served 10 hospitals, assisted living facilities and nursing homes:  Berman Commons, Dunwoody Place, Magnolia Place of Roswell, The Cohen Home, Roswell Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Somerby at Sandy Springs, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Sunrise at Huntcliff, Georgian Lakeside and the Veterans Administration Medical Center.  We were proud to welcome over 200 volunteers to serve those 10 locations.

We are grateful for the support of our continuing sponsors: Publix Super Markets Charities; Capital Investment Advisors; Siegel Insurance and Auto-Owners Insurance; Carr, Riggs and Ingram LLP;  Kessler and Solomiany LLC; Coldwell Banker-Debbie Sonenshine; Loventhal Insurance Group; Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care; Toco Instant Printing; and Co-Create a Website.     

While we have gained some local publicity from local newspapers and television stations, the program has also gained some national attention. The Pinch Hitter Program was awarded the 335th Presidential Point of Light Service Award by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.  Additionally, the program was featured in a December, 1998 issue of Family Circle magazine. 

To read about this program in B’nai B’rith Magazine, click here.

For more information contact Harry Lutz at 770-392-1175 or Jerry Kravitz at 404-444-3297.

Photos from the Pinch Hitters Program:

 

 

AJLF – Atlanta Jewish Life Festival at the Georgia Aquarium – January 2019

The Atlanta Jewish Times organized the inaugural Atlanta Jewish Life Festival at the Georgia Aquarium on January 13, 2019. Over 4,000 members of the Atlanta Jewish community attended this event. Read about the festival in the Atlanta Jewish Times here. 

See Photos from the Festival Here: