How it all began...
In 2017, Rabbi Chaim and Bassy Mendelsohn founded A Ripple Effect, a youth volunteer movement with one simple but powerful mission: to inspire young people to change the world through kindness. Teens from across Ottawa came together to visit seniors, support families facing illness, loss, disability, or hardship, deliver gifts, volunteer their time, and discover that even the smallest act of kindness can change a life. What began as a small youth initiative quickly grew into a vibrant community of compassionate volunteers dedicated to making a real difference.
Then, in March 2020, everything changed. COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill. Schools closed, programs disappeared overnight, and many of the families we supported suddenly found themselves more isolated than ever. Instead of slowing down, we rolled up our sleeves. From our own home, we began preparing fresh, healthy, homemade meals made from scratch with love. We packed hundreds of Passover and Shavuot holiday boxes, prepared Shabbat meals, barbecue dinners, family meal packages, and countless care packages, ensuring that those facing illness, food insecurity, loss, or isolation knew they were never alone.
As restrictions eased, our teens returned. Our living room and dining room once again became a place filled with laughter, teamwork, and purpose. Together, they chopped vegetables, baked challah, stirred soups, packed meals, and prepared food for seniors, young families, newcomers, and anyone in need. Since 2020, together with our incredible volunteers, we have prepared and delivered more than 3,000 homemade meals, each one created with dignity, compassion, and love.
Today, that dream is becoming something even bigger. The Irving Aaron Kitchen of Kindness, dedicated in loving memory of Irving Aaron ז"ל, is a place where people of all ages and abilities can come together to make a difference. Children, teens, adults, seniors, schools, community groups, families, individuals with disabilities, bar and bat mitzvah families, corporate teams, and volunteers from every background will roll up their sleeves to prepare healthy, delicious meals from scratch for people facing illness, food insecurity, homelessness, isolation, newcomers to Canada, women's shelters, and so many others throughout our community. More than a kitchen, it is a place where kindness comes to life, friendships are built, leadership is nurtured, and every meal reminds someone that they are cared for.
We are also incredibly excited to partner with Chabad International Kitchen of Kindness initiative, joining hundreds of Chabad centres around the world in this extraordinary movement of compassion. Inspired in memory of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky ז"ל, this global initiative is bringing communities together to prepare and share nourishing homemade meals with those who need them most. We are deeply honoured that the Irving Aaron Kitchen of Kindness will be part of this worldwide 'a ripple effect' of kindness, serving our local community while standing alongside a global network dedicated to giving back.
Whether you'd like to cook, volunteer, sponsor a meal, organize a group, celebrate a bar or bat mitzvah through a meaningful act of kindness, or simply lend a helping hand, there is a place for you here. Together, we can nourish bodies, lift spirits, build community, and create ripples of kindness that will be felt for generations to come.
We can't wait to welcome you.
Rabbi Chaim & Bassy Mendelsohn
and the teens and volunteers of A Ripple Effect
one meal, one note, one touch point of kindness at a time
Join us
Rooted in the Rebbe's Vision
Before Kitchen of Kindness packed its first pan of food, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was shaping how America feeds hungry families. When Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm felt stuck on the Agriculture Committee, the Rebbe encouraged her to use that “unwanted” assignment to make sure children and parents had food on the table, leading to the expansion of programs like SNAP and WIC.
Kitchen of Kindness is our local answer to that same call. Fresh, homemade kosher meals, delivered with dignity, to neighbors who need it. As Shirley Chisholm later said, “If not for the Rebbe, many more children in this country would go to bed hungry.”
