It’s been at least 35 years since the B’nai B’rith Horeb Lodge in New Haven started its annual kosher-for-Passover food drive for the financially strapped. Lodge chair Harold Miller says that PROJECT HOPE (Help Our People Everywhere) already had a track record when he first joined B’nai B’rith some 30 years ago. First launched in New York, the B’nai B’rith International community-service program has spread over time to Boston, Philadelphia, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Miller, who also serves on the B’nai B’rith International Board of Governors, coordinates the Connecticut effort, based at the JCC of Greater New Haven in Woodbridge. He determines need from Jewish Family Service agencies statewide and rabbis in greater New Haven, then raises funds from individuals and organizations. This year, he received assistance from the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven, the Jewish Federations of Greater New Haven and Western Connecticut, and the Cosmopolitan Lodge of Connecticut Freemasons. Miller coordinates Passover food donations and delivery from New York-based manufacturers like Gold’s, Joyva, and Manischewitz. At the JCC, volunteers put together hundreds of packages for pickup and distribution by JFS staff and volunteers.

This year, Miller was joined by volunteers from BBYO, Ezra Academy and the Jewish High School of Connecticut, the Cosmopolitan Lodge of Connecticut Freemasons, and members of AEPhi at Yale.