Spirits are rising alongside the cookie dough at the Manhattan JCC as doctors, social workers, artists, lawyers, and teachers team up with master chef Levana Kirschenbaum to bake one million chocolate chip cookies to raise funds to help the families of Israel's terror victims.
An army of volunteers which also includes moms, students and retirees has rallied around The One Million Cookies Project, the tastiest tzedaka project of all time, a joint effort of Levana Kirschenbaum, co-owner of Levana Restaurant, the Israel Emergency Solidarity Fund and the Manhattan JCC, which has donated its kitchen facilities for this remarkable undertaking.
Levana, who starts to bake at 9 a.m. and doesn't finish until 9 p.m., has been “overwhelmed by the dedicated volunteers who give so generously of their time and energy.” The Neshama Teen Club of Brighton Beach, led by head counselor Yehudis Winner, helped her bake 6,000 cookies one morning as part of their summer activity. High school student Olga Kuchma, who emigrated here from the Ukraine as a young child and has family in Israel, was eager to help support fellow Jews in such a meaningful way.
The gourmet chocolate chip cookies, which are natural, kosher OU parve and pas yisrael, can be ordered in one-pound gift boxes and in bulk packaging of 100, 500 or 1000 cookies, ideal for camps and synagogues. To participate in this fund-raising effort, the cookies can be ordered online at www.millioncookies.com or call 1-800-672-8411. If you are interested in joining the baking brigade, call the volunteer hotline at 646-505-4455.