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Barbara the bag lady By Tim Bousquet For the Tidings "Judaism encourages us to do good deeds," says Barbara Hopfinger. "No, it's an obligation really. It's not a choice. It's our duty to do good deeds." And Hopfinger takes her duty seriously. Barbara Hopfinger gets animated as she reads to the Jungle Room class of 4 and 5 year olds at the Ashland YMCA on Thursday. Ashland Daily Tidings/ CHRIS MILLER The retired schoolteacher is a regular fixture at Temple Emek Shalom in Ashland, co-Chairing the temple's Social Action Committee. During the High Holy Days each fall, Hopfinger organizes the temple's food drive. "We call Barbara 'The Bag Lady', " says Judy Visser, the temple's director of programs and education. "She brings in empty grocery bags and gives them to everyone, telling them to bring them back full the next week." Hopfinger's prodding, the temple donates about a ton of food each year to the Ashland Emergency Food Bank. For her work, she was recently given a $500 shopping spree at Albertson's grocery store, an award she turned over to the Food Bank. "Five hundred dollars goes a long way," says Sarah Paul, the food manager at the food bank. "We spend anywhere from $50 to $100 a week on perishables, so we'll be scurrying through the aisles for some time thanks to Barbara." Additionally, Paul points out that the temple's annual food drive is the third largest source of donations to the food bank. "It's a tremendous effort for a not very big organization, and Barbara puts that effort together each year." Besides her work with the food bank, "Barbara is very active in many of the temple's other programs," says Visser. Hopfinger is the temple's representative to the Interfaith Community Care Agency, and volunteers in the ICCA office one day a week. ICCA works to provide services to local homeless people. "There are so many people coming in now," Hopfinger says of the ICCA office. "There's such poverty out there." "Barbara is one of the most energetically caring volunteers I have," says Jean Hallinan of ICCA. "She thinks nothing of giving her time for the caring of others. "Mother Teresa," Hallinan continues, "said that 'the fruit of love is service,' and that is true Barbara; that explains her exactly." Hopfinger is also the organizer of the temple's Mitzhah Days in May, a weekend in which the congregation's youngsters do social service work. "She's a wonderful role model," says Visser. "As a retired teacher, she's particularly interested in the kids." This year the older students worked with Habitat for Humanity and cleaned up the Ashland Head Start grounds, while the younger students planted flowers at the neighboring Ashland Church of the Nazarene. "Every time I see a kid I give him something to do," says Hopfinger. "You have to make youngsters aware - especially in an affluent community - that there are those in need." In lieu of bar mitzvah and bath mitzvah gifts, says Hopfinger, many of the children at the temple are asking their guests to bring food for the food bank. Hopfinger humbly brushes aside kudos sent her way. "I'm not really the important thing," she says. "All the people at the temple are the important thing. The leaders of the community really want do good for the community. It's easy to work with people like that." Still, Hopfinger's work extends beyond the temple; she volunteers at the City of Ashland's plaza information kiosk once a week, she reads stories to preschoolers at the YMCA daycare, and she helps non-English speakers learn the language. Were that not enough, Hopfinger is busy organizing for the temple's next big project. At 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 2, every faith group in Ashland has been invited to the temple "to work out a plan to help people pay for their medication," she says. "The Oregon Health Plan is collapsing, and people can't make their co-payments," she explains. "To me, you have to take care of the poor and hungry in your own country before you go on these military excursions around the world. I was very against the invasion of Iraq. We're the richest nation in the world, but we have hungry people, and people who can't pay for their medicine. It's outrageous. We have to make it right." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -