Warm Hearts, Cold Nights: Supporting NoVa Hypothermia Prevention

How do a dozen or more women with hundreds of plastic grocery bags make an impact on Fairfax County’s unhoused community? It happens when the Pozez JCC’s Women’s Social Impact Group (WSIG) joins forces with FACETS, a nonprofit that supports Northern Virginians facing poverty and homelessness, for Hypothermia Prevention Week. 

The WSIG is an amazing group of women of all ages and stages who want to make the world a better place. The group has tackled important issues such as hunger, homelessness, voting rights, and environmental change. Since the group’s inception in 2020, dedicated women have donated non-perishable food items, toiletries, women’s clothing, books, puzzles, and scarves to worthy organizations; worked at the Food for Others food pantry; helped build a community garden; and raised funds for Sunrise Day Camp. 

Most impressive among these activities is the work the WSIG (and the larger JCC volunteer network) does to support FACETS’ Hypothermia Prevention Week at Bethlehem Lutheran Church each year. During this week, community members can come to the church for meals, entertainment, services, and a warm place to sleep during one of the colder weeks of the year.  

This year’s Hypothermia Prevention Week took place January 11-18. The Pozez JCC and the WSIG partnered with Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Living Savior Lutheran Church, Kids Give Back, and Congregation Olam Tikvah to successfully feed and house 50 guests and FACETS staff during a very chilly week. A significant donation by the Jay Meyerson Book Club also supported our efforts. 

The JCC was responsible for two full days of meals, serving, and entertainment. For the first time, the J organized two “Gather and Give Communal Cooking Events” to prepare lunch sandwiches and a complete dinner meal. Both mornings, volunteers came to the church to serve a hot breakfast of pancakes and sent guests out for the day with a brown bag lunch. Additional volunteers provided delicious desserts and served dinner each evening to grateful guests. 

Guests were entertained by a bingo game called by Olam Tikvah volunteers and a concert by Makheylah, the JCC Community Choir. A local hairdresser provided haircuts to the visitors. 

“The team of volunteers are dedicated and enthusiastic and work hard to ensure that the guests are well taken care of and…that the logistics go smoothly,” one volunteer told me.  “The guests enjoyed bingo with some assisting others for whom English was not their first language. I thoroughly enjoy helping with this project and intend to continue in the foreseeable future.” 

More than 90 volunteers spent 563 hours making Hypothermia Prevention Week possible. The cost to rent the hall and provide food, gift cards, and supplies totaled close to $15,000. It truly takes a village to have a successful Hypothermia Prevention Week. 

So where do the grocery bags come in? One of the WSIG’s ongoing projects is making “plarn” (plastic yarn) bedrolls for members of the unhoused community. Each 6-foot bedroll (ie, a sleeping mat) is made from 700 grocery store bags. It is a perfect example of bettering the environment by repurposing these bags into lightweight cushions for people living outdoors. A volunteer delivers these crocheted mats to members of the unhoused community, one at a time, as they are completed.   

What a great village we are privileged to be part of, helping so many people in need. If you’d like to support the Pozez JCC’s social action efforts, you can do so in several ways. 

• Attend the Women’s Social Impact Group’s monthly meetings and get involved with its community service projects. Turn your passion into purpose. 

• Volunteer to make bedrolls for our unhoused neighbors – no experience needed. 

• Donate to the JCC to support social action initiatives.