"Ours is a government of service. I’m focused on building a society rooted in dignity and respect, and this year’s Big Soup Serve shows the power of community and the kindness at the heart of our great nation."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also took part in the milestone event, volunteering his time alongside members of City Hall’s Jewish, Muslim and Christian staff networks to pack kosher recipe kits bound for Jewish communities across the capital.
The parcels, assembled from surplus ingredients, were put together on Wednesday at City Hall before being dispatched by e-bike to Charedi and other Jewish households in need.
Sadiq Khan packed food boxes with Laura Marks (Mitzvah Day)[Missing Credit]
Speaking after the event at City Hall, the London mayor said: “It was a real privilege to join colleagues and volunteers at City Hall as we marked the 20th anniversary of Mitzvah Day, the UK’s biggest faith-led day of social action.
“I was proud to stand alongside our Jewish, Muslim and Christian staff packing recipe boxes using surplus food, helping to support Londoners facing food insecurity. At a time when divisions are rising across the world, coming together in the spirit of community to celebrate our shared values has never been more important, as we build a better London for everyone.”
Jewish, Christian and Muslim staff came together at City Hall for the day of action (Mitzvah Day)[Missing Credit]
Laura Marks, founder and chair of Mitzvah Day, described it as “a joy and a privilege” to pack food parcels with the Mayor’s Fund for London and the Greater London Authority’s Jewish, Muslim and Christian staff networks.
“We recognise the essential need to support people who have insufficient food and Mitzvah Day encourages people of all faiths and backgrounds to do this together, as we saw in this hands-on activity at City Hall,” Marks said.
“Huge thank you to the wonderful volunteers, the Mayor of London, who has supported us every year and Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard.”
This year’s Mitzvah Day – officially on Sunday, although events have taken place throughout this week – marks two decades of the initiative, which brings together thousands of volunteers from across the UK’s faith and community groups to carry out local, practical acts of kindness.
The annual event is the country’s largest faith-led day of social action.
More than 55,000 people around the world take part. “Jewish-led, we bring together people of all faiths and backgrounds, to volunteer side-by-side, building longstanding, genuine relationships.”
Also taking part in this year’s events were Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Progressive Judaism Co-Leads Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy and Bishop of Edmonton Right Reverend Dr Anderson Jeremiah, MPs, local mayors, and leaders from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Hindu faiths, as well as schools.
The Chief Rabbi supported the United Synagogue's Mitzvah Day projects, including an asylum seeker drop-in, which offers over 100 families a cooked meal, mentoring, vouchers for food, and donations of clothing and toiletries.
Rabbi Charley Baginsky, co-lead of Progressive Judaism, took part in a Mitzvah Day project at the movement's Northern Chagigah event this weekend. She joined a foodbank collection organised by Ne’ve Shalom, the Hull Reform Synagogue, and said: "Mitzvah Day gave everyone here the chance to put our shared learning into direct action. It is a powerful reminder of what happens when we show up for each other."
Events have taken place in London, Brighton, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester, including Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, which has vowed to continue with their good deeds by hosting a clothing collection.
This week's JC will include a special photo gallery and report from Mitzvah Day.
