Ten Jewish volunteers from Congregation Ner Tamid will serve a special Christmas dinner to the needy at the Daily Bread soup kitchen in Bradenton.

This marks the seventh year that the Jewish volunteers will serve the Dec. 25 dinner to needy people at Our Daily Bread, 701 17th Ave W., Bradenton.

The volunteers describe it as their "mitzvah," or good deed, to help Bradenton’s homeless men, women and children. The help also enables the soup kitchen's staff to take Christmas day off to spend with their own families.

Greeting guests, dishing up veggies, piling on ham or turkey and slicing yummy pies, is all part of the day well spent for the 10 volunteers: Marcia and Marvin Shepard, Elaine Mittler, Rhonda Mittler and David, Stacey and Jackie Jacobson who help out each year, along with first timers, Joy Yelin and Ken and Rhonda Kaplan.

This Christmas day, in addition to serving hundreds of meals, Ner Tamid congregants will present a check to Our Daily Bread.

“We know they need help throughout the year, so this is our way of continuing our congregation’s commitment to service to our community,” says Mittler.

Mittler noted that Ner Tamid has received thank yous from the public, including a letter last year, which stated, “To all the lovely souls of your congregation, I just wanted to tell you … that there really is hope for a better tomorrow for all of us and despite our differences in belief, we can live hand in hand.”

Congregation Ner Tamid serves the Bradenton-Sarasota Jewish community, with an emphasis on community outreach and involvement.