The Medallion, students and community partners unite to warm Houston\u2019s homeless<\/p>\n
As Houstonians prepared for the annual Thanksgiving parade on Nov. 27, a different kind of preparation took place downtown at Tranquility Park. The latter was rooted not in celebration, but in compassion and community responsibility.<\/p>\n
In that spirit, four residents of The Medallion Jewish Assisted Living Residence \u2013 Paulette Bregman, Lisa Welch, Bernard Rich and Barbara Mishael \u2013 along with The Medallion Marketing director Loren Gordon and Activity coordinator Marsha Allen, Temple Beth Torah Rabbi Dan Gordon and longtime advocate Jay \u201cEgg Man\u201d Hamburger began distributing food and more than 1,000 pairs of socks to Houston\u2019s homeless.<\/p>\n
The group was warmly welcomed by Alison Bell, executive director of The Heritage Society. Although the morning air was brisk, spirits remained high as the sock-bearers greeted each individual seeking warmth, nourishment and kindness with a generous dose of compassion and friendship.<\/p>\n
This was The Medallion\u2019s second year to collect pairs of socks for those in need. As many as 300 pairs were collected in November 2024. The Medallion residents had partnered with United Orthodox Synagogues high school students, blending intergenerational service with Jewish values of caring for the vulnerable.<\/p>\n
Rebranded this year, \u201cSock-Giving: Sock-dakah for Warm Hearts, Warm Feet\u201d brought together an extraordinary coalition of partners: The Medallion, Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services, Houston Jewish Professionals, Temple Beth Torah, Robert M. Beren Academy, Westheimer Transfer and Storage, Jewish Herald-Voice, Tapester\u2019s Grill and generous individuals throughout the community.<\/p>\n
Among the standout supporters was Temple Beth Torah Bar Mitzvah student Omri Quick, who collected socks for his mitzvah project. Dr. Dovid Wolff, who donated more than 500 pairs of new Bombas socks, pushed the total contributions to more than 1,000 pairs. Socks are still coming in, including shipments from as far away as Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n
For Hamburger, who has spent more than 35 years feeding Houston\u2019s homeless, these socks are more than comfort; they are dignity and protection, especially with the Thanksgiving weekend bringing in the beginning of Houston\u2019s harshest winter weather. The Egg Man plans to continue distributing socks every Sunday, along with his usual offerings of food and friendship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is such a heartwarming event for everyone,\u201d said Loren Gordon. \u201cThe project empowers our residents to take action and make a positive impact on our community.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur residents are passionate about giving, and this initiative creates meaningful opportunities for tzedakah, acts of justice and compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The collaboration among seniors, students, local organizations and dedicated volunteers serves as a reminder of the strength and generosity of Houston\u2019s Jewish community. In a season of gratitude, their collective effort ensured that hundreds of individuals in need will face the winter a little warmer \u2013 and a lot more cared for. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Medallion, students and community partners unite to warm Houston\u2019s homeless As Houstonians prepared for the annual Thanksgiving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,37014],"class_list":{"0":"post-74760","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news","11":"tag-sock-giving-in-the-spirit-of-tzedakah"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}