I GREW up in Melbourne in a Jewish family, and was raised with the ethos of always working for the community. I started volunteering in my own right as a teenager and have combined part-time work with volunteering and community work my entire adult life.

I recently retired after working and volunteering in aged care for more than 40 years. My retirement was precipitated by my two daughters – recent mothers themselves – living with young families in London and Perth. I wanted to have the flexibility to be able to visit them and be a part of their and their children’s lives.

Last September while in London for the birth of my first grandson, I saw a photo and article in the London Jewish News which caught my attention. It was a photo of the leaders of the three major Jewish religious movements standing together with a shovel in their hands and smiling. The caption read: “Everything is coming up roses for Mitzvah Day.” Mitzvah is the Hebrew or Jewish word for “good deed”. I contacted the organisers of Mitzvah Day London, and was inspired by them to initiate Mitzvah Day in Melbourne.

When I returned home, I started contacting people I thought would be interested in joining me. On November 20, we will have our first Mitzvah Day, which includes good deeds like donating blood, cleaning up Elwood beach, holding a concert for senior citizens, running a working bee in a nursing home garden, hosting a picnic with Sudanese refugees, and celebrating a family fun day in South Melbourne.

The South Melbourne fun day is one of the biggest events we’ll hold on our inaugural year. We are setting up a food van at the Park Street public housing flats, where we will be serving food and donating household items that have been collected and donated from nearby schools. The day is sure to be fun with choirs, bingo games, lucky dips, face-painting, jewellery-making, hair-braiding and more.

Mitzvah Day began in London five years ago in a small way. By 2010, more than 18,000 people were involved throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, within the Jewish community and working at an interfaith level. My dream is that Mitzvah Day in Melbourne will flourish and grow as it has done in the United Kingdom.