Signature Events

JFS signature events bring our community together to celebrate, give back, and make a meaningful impact.

SIGNATURE EVENTS

From sponsorship opportunities like the Event to Combat Hunger to hands-on volunteer efforts such as our Thanksgiving Drive, these events offer powerful ways to support our neighbors and strengthen well-being across Greater Hartford.

  • Thanksgiving & Turkey Drives

    Mid-November

    At JFS, we believe everyone in our community should have the opportunity to give thanks. We hold a number of special activities leading up to Thanksgiving to ensure that our clients and their families have what they need. 

    Our Thanksgiving Drive in partnership with The Crown Market provides a family with kosher Thanksgiving essentials for just a $30 donation. 

    In mid-November, we offer opportunities to help pack and distribute Thanksgiving staples, and on the weekend before Thanksgiving, we hold a giant, drive-through kosher turkey giveaway. You won’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity to give back! 

    To learn more about giving and sponsorship opportunities, email Hillary Clark, Development Manager, or call (860) 236-1927, ext. 7089. To learn more about volunteering for the drive, email Laura Miacola, Volunteer & Employee Experience Coordinator, or call (860) 236-1927, ext. 7128. 

  • 14th Annual Responding to Hunger Event

    The Responding to Hunger Event on November 12, 2026 brings our community together for an evening celebrating what we can accomplish when businesses, community leaders, and generous individuals come together to care for our neighbors.

    This year, the need for food assistance has continued to grow. The Anja Rosenberg Kosher Food Pantry is serving 30% more individuals and 46% more children, while pantry visits have increased by 143%. Behind each of these numbers is a neighbor who has turned to JFS for help putting food on the table.

    Guests at Responding to Hunger will enjoy wine, hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, live music, and a meaningful program highlighting the realities of hunger in Greater Hartford and the impact we create together. 

    Event sponsorships and ticket purchases directly support the Anja Rosenberg Kosher Food Pantry, providing nutritious, kosher food to individuals and families from all backgrounds throughout the year. Additional gifts help sustain JFS’s full range of programs and services, allowing us to respond wherever the need is greatest.

    Join us on November 12 and be part of a community coming together to respond to this growing need.

    Tickets and additional event details are coming soon.

    Learn more about sponsorship opportunities, or follow JFS on Facebook and Instagram for event updates beginning in September.

  • Annual Back-to-School Drive

    JULY

    Each year throughout the month of July, JFS holds a Back-to-School Drive to collect backpacks and selected school supplies for clients and their families. Upward of 175 backpacks are distributed in August, just before the school year begins. There are several ways to support the drive:

    • Donate: Donate online or mail a check, and we’ll purchase the supplies that are needed most. If mailing a check, please write “Back-to-School Drive” in the memo line.
    • Shop Locally: Purchase supplies and drop them off at our office: 333 Bloomfield Ave Suite A, West Hartford.
    • Shop our Wish List: Purchase supplies online through our Amazon wish list and have them shipped directly to JFS.

    This drive is sponsored by S&S Worldwide and supported through partnerships with the Mandell JCC and PJ Library in Greater Hartford.

    Corporate, family, and individual sponsors are welcome. Click here to learn more about sponsorships or check our Facebook page for details on the drive during summer months.

  • Passover Food Drive + Distribution

    Spring

    Each spring, Elayne and James Schoke Jewish Family Service of Fairfield County and the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty invite JFS of Greater Hartford to participate in a massive kosher-for-Passover bulk food distribution. 

    Our JFS staff drive a truck to Stamford and fill it with tons of potatoes, onions, matzah, and other fixings for a perfect Seder. Then we drive back to Hartford, where dozens of volunteers help us sort and repack the food into family-size grocery bags for distribution to JFS clients. 

    You can volunteer as an individual or a group or donate matzah or other staples in the lead-up to Passover (see our Pantry Picks program).

     

Looking for more events? View our Calendar.