As eighth-grader Shoshana Scott spread sunbutter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless, others were singing songs for Holocaust survivors, making craft kits for children in hospitals, cleaning up parks and assisting the elderly with technology.

Good Deeds Day, on March 15, is the Jewish Federation’s global event where people of all ages participate in community service projects relating to issues such as world hunger, the environment, the homeless or animal rescue. In North America alone, over 450 community service projects took place. The Federation expected around 8,000 to participate in the event locally.

CESJDS celebrates Good Deeds Day by hosting its own event, Families in Action Day (FIA). At the JDS Lower School, four different community service projects were held, ranging from a blood drive to sandwich making for the homeless. Off-site, JDS arranged three other events including a park cleanup, activities at a horse rescue shelter and a “Tech Cafe” in which students helped the elderly learn about technology.

“I think it’s really important to help the poor, because they don’t have any food,” Scott said of the sandwiches she was making for the homeless.

Scott was one of around 120 students who assisted in crafting 1,200 sandwiches which will be donated to the local homeless.

JDS parent Stacy Relkin-Winkler was one of a few parents who led the Tech Cafe. As Relkin-Winkler’s son had previously participated in a different Tech Cafe program, she thought the Tech Cafe would “make a great addition to the FIA lineup.”

Students and their families attended the Tech Cafe at Beth Sholom. They began with a light breakfast and a brief training session. The students were then paired up with senior citizens and taught them to use phones, tablets, laptops and other electronic devices.

“The nice thing with the Tech Cafe in particular is that the students get to really feel like the experts and share their knowledge with the seniors,” Relkin-Winkler said.

As Relkin-Winkler provided teenagers with a way to give back to their community, freshman Becca Block organized 20 Jewish teens to clean up Buck Branch Park in Potomac. Though Block’s event was not directly affiliated with Good Deeds Day, she had the day in mind when she decided to create outing.

“We all live here and it’s important to take care of our community, so our community can give back to us, one step at a time,” Block said.