After retiring as a human resource consultant at the end of 2020, Philip Tenenbaum approached Rabbi Oren Hayon of Congregation Emanu El in Houston about creating a volunteer program to address food insecurity in Houston.  Over the next 18 months, the program came together with the help and advice of various nonprofit organizations that address food insecurity.

 

As the program concept developed, three other organizations signed on as partners: Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Beth Yeshurun, and Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism.  The resulting alliance was branded the “Food & Faith Collaborative” in 2022, with the goal of expanding to a broad diversity of faith-based community organizations.

​

A watershed moment occurred when Philip met with Second Servings of Houston, which had created its unique “PopUp Grocery Store” program in early 2022, to help mitigate the impact of high grocery price inflation. A close partnership was formed in the fall of 2022.  Since launching, several other community organizations have joined the effort, including Congregation Brith Shalom, Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, and Houston Chapter of Hadassah. Click below to join more than 200 volunteers who are participating with the Food & Faith Collaborative.