Congregation mixes TLC with PB&J

MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio - Every Friday night you can find members of Temple Israel Ner Tamid in Mayfield Heights making peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

Their service ends and they head for tables stocked with Panera bread, Jif and Skippy peanut butter and Smucker's Jelly.

Making sandwiches to be distributed to needy Clevelanders is part of social action by the congregation.

They move with machine-like speed as they make the sandwiches. Brett Lipton wields a knife to cut the creations in half, before the PB&J is bagged and boxed. The delivery to the streets of Cleveland happens around 10 p.m.

This labor of love has been going on for two years.

"Whether you think your cup is half empty or half full, there's always enough water to give someone else," said Peter Freimark, the temple's social action chairman.

Three other nights; Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, they distribute items donated by Panera and Chick-Fil-A.