As the teenager who was too busy to be bothered to cook and learn the "family food secrets" from my mum, I now love nothing more than being in the Alyth kitchen with a group of fabulous volunteers who chop, fry, mix and simply come together to cook on Mitzvah Day.

This year, we made food for the winter shelter project for the homeless, of which Alyth is a part, as well as for our own community freezer and for the visitors we welcomed from across the borough.

The kitchen wasn't the only place that was energised. The children in our Sunday morning Galim programme were packing sweets and toiletry parcels for a refugee Christmas party. Others were making Chanucah cards for HIV-Aids patients and a group of volunteers were running Alyth's Listening Café – a forum where people come together to listen and engage in issues around mental health that members of the community are experiencing.

Mitzvah Day fed our souls on Sunday. I couldn't imagine a better way to make a difference.

Noeleen Cohen

Alyth (North Western Reform Synagogue, Golders Green)