To do a mitzvah is to do a good deed. And that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do at the Mitzvah Marathon.
Hosted by Chabad at Rice University in conjunction with the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, Houston Hillel, the Program in Jewish Studies and the Rice Joint Campus Ministries, the fourth annual good-deed-a-thon scheduled for Feb. 25 is shaping up to be the largest yet.
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., a booth in the Central Quad outside Brochstein Pavilion will encourage members of the Rice community to come and perform a mitzvah of their choosing.
“Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the homeless, create a get-well card for a child at the Texas Children's Hospital, donate cans to the Houston Food Bank or give a quick cheek swab for bone marrow registry Gift of Life,” said Rabbi Shmuli Slonim, who runs Chabad at Rice alongside wife Nechama.
Slonim said the Mitzvah Marathon is an event the students anticipate each year, volunteering to man the booth. They help clean up the debris from making hundreds of sandwiches, refresh supplies in the card-making area and help with bone marrow donor swabs.
“People are hungry to do good, to impact, to make a difference, and this event is there to help everyone do just that,” Slonim said. “It’s designed to give everyone the ability to light up the world with goodness and kindness.”
Each Mitzvah Marathon enables sandwiches, cards and much-needed canned goods — kindness, in short — to be dispatched from Rice across Houston.
“Our world can use more light and this is an easy and practical way to light that flame,” Slonim said.
For more information or to volunteer, visit ricemitzvahmarathon.com.