Four years at KU Hillel wasn’t enough for Ally Fabes. When she was hired last year as an Engagement Associate, she found it incredibly fulfilling to come back to the nest. Now, Fabes takes on a new role at KU Hillel: Program Director.

Want to do the mitzvah of saving a life and thus saving the world? Please consider donating a kidney to me. I’m a retiree and member of the KC Jewish community whose kidney function has deteriorated despite my doing all the right things. Though I’m on the list for a kidney from a deceased donor, there are over 100,000 others also waiting. I want to avoid dialysis (which isn’t a cure) as the five-year life expectancy on dialysis is much lower than for breast cancer.

Simcha Gifts, a program of the Chabad House Center, has experienced much success this year in preparing and delivering holiday packages to a variety of people within the Jewish community, including seniors living in facilities and their own homes.

For a decade, Melanie Allmayer has served as a spiritual care volunteer through the chaplaincy program at Jewish Family Services. Whether visiting a patient in the hospital or making a call to an older adult living in a long-term care facility, Allmayer continues providing caring conversation, a listening ear and a hand to hold.