Mitzvah Market - Ashland, Virginia
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N 37° 45.397 W 077° 28.928
18S E 281339 N 4181713
The Mitzvah Market was conceived and realized by a local religious school student. It is at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center property along the west sidewalk of South Central Street in Ashland, Virginia.
Waymark Code: WM155D5
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 10/20/2021
Views: 1
The Mitvah Market was conceived and realized by a local religious school student. One of several Little Free Pantries in the area, it is at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center on South Central Street in Ashland, Virginia. "Mitzvah" (pronounced: MITS-vah) is the Hebrew word meaning, in this use, "[fulfilling the commandment to perform] a good deed".
This free community pantry is a large box made from plywood and elevated on two wood posts. Its shed roof slants down from front to back and is covered in black asphalt shingles. Two doors with a brass latch and steel eye hook for closure are at the front. The container has a base coat of white paint. "Mitzvah Market" and "Take What You Need - Leave What You Can" are stenciled in blue paint across the doors. A dozen square blocks painted blue trim the edges of the side panels closest to the doors.
Items filling the two shelves on the day of my visit included: cans of Goya Garbanzo Beans and Dakota's Pride Pinto Beans, two jars of peanut butter, multiple bags of white and brown rice, spaghetti, and three boxes of macaroni and cheese.
One of our Or Ami Religious School students, 10-year-old Micah Rossi, has been hard at work building a Mitzvah Market at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center (500 S Center St Ashland, VA 23005). This project is modeled on the concept of free little libraries, which promotes neighborhood book exchanges as people can both leave books for others to enjoy and find a new title for their own reading pleasure. In this case, instead of books, the community shelf that Micah built is stocked with non-perishable foods for anyone in need to come and take. If you or anyone you know in the Ashland area are in need of food, you can visit Micah’s Mitzvah Market. If you would like to donate food to help keep Micah’s Mitzvah Market well-stocked, please be in touch with Micah’s parents, Heather and Nicole Rossi (astarte27@me.com and onajourney75@me.com). Thank you and Mazel Tov to Micah on beginning this wonderful mitzvah project!
Source: Congregation Or Ami
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