In 1986, Am Shalom member Fanchon Simons wrote a letter to the synagogue’s Youth Group and their parents, asking them to bring a bagged lunch with two sandwiches to school the following Sunday to help feed the homeless.

And so began a long relationship with House of Daniel, a homeless shelter for men, and a consortium of four other organizations who committed to providing bagged lunches for people in need every Sunday throughout the year. In April of 2004 we honored Fanchon by naming the program The Fanchon Simons’ Helping the Hungry Program at Am Shalom. 

Twenty-two years later the recipients have changed from House of Daniel to Bethlehem Healing Temple and now to New Chance in Austin but we still gather in the kitchen every month to make 300 bagged lunches. Volunteers of all ages make sandwiches, bag cookies, pack up fruit and chips, and deliver the lunches. 

The project continues through the leadership and commitment of Dermin Eagan, Jackie Stein, Nina Schroeder, and Erica Feinberg, who coordinate all aspects of the program from supplies to drivers, to communicating with New Chance and  managing the more than 50 volunteers that regularly show up to do the work.

Fanchon Simons’ Feeding the Hungry meets in the Am Shalom Kitchen on the 3rd Sunday of every month at 9:00am. It typically takes no more than an hour and is a fun, easy way to do a mitzvah (good deed) and meet some friendly folks!