Mitzvah Day at Riverdale Temple

The Riverdale Temple has a full plate set up for Mitzvah Day on March 31 — and it could be a chance to help make sure others have a full plate, too.

The 4545 Independence Ave., synagogue is seeking volunteers to help prepare 200 bagged lunches for Part of the Solution’s soup kitchen, as well as food donations for the Kingsbridge-Riverdale-Marble Hill Food & Hunger Project.

That’s just a couple of the events planned for Riverdale Temple’s Day of Community Service, scheduled to run from 9 a.m., to noon that Sunday.

Also planned are donations of canes, walkers and medical tools as well as school supplies for the Afya Foundation in Yonkers.

Clothing donations will be made to Big Brother Big Sisters, while grooming kits will be prepared for a number of local organizations in the area who help those in need.

Volunteers also are needed to help write letters to U.S. Jewish military troops, knit preemie caps and afghan squares for patients at local hospitals, and plant zinnia seeds for residents at Zicklin Hospice and Assisted Living facilities.

Oh, and there will be a book swap as well.

Anyone wanting to participate can get more information by calling The Riverdale Temple at (718) 548-3800, or by emailing administrator@riverdaletemple.org.

Nominees sought for community service award

Community Board 8 seeks nominations for its Irving Ladimer Community Service Award, designed for volunteers who have improved or enhanced in some way the quality of life of those living in the CB8 area.

The award is named in memory of Irving Ladimer, the longtime CB8 member, who died last year.

Entries — which must be received no later than Friday, April 12 — should include the name of the person or group being nominated, contact information for them, a description of the volunteer work for which they’re being considered, and how that work impacted the community.

Those entries, which must also include the name of the person submitting it, can be addressed to the Community Service Award Committee, Bronx Community Board 8, 5676 Riverdale Ave., Suite 100, Bronx, N.Y., 10471.

Awards will be presented at the May 14 CB8 meeting.

Garbage truck art

Who says garbage trucks have to look so plain?

The city’s sanitation department seeks artists to liven up some of the trucks collecting trash every day.

Those interested should submit a short description of their idea complete with design mock-ups, and why they want to be selected (along with a short bio) to trashtalk@dsny.nyc.gov before March 31.

Painting will start in April.