Cedarhurst Man Nominated as Jewish Community Hero

The Cedarhurst man who founded a national organization that fights hunger has been nominated as a Jewish Community Hero and stands to win $25,000 for his charity if he receives enough votes online.

, who founded Rock and Wrap It Up!, is among more than 300 people nominated as a hero in the Jewish Federations of North America’s contest. The winner of the contest receives a top prize of a $25,000 grant they can use for their charity.

“I’m very humbled by it because I don’t look at the work we do as Jewish or Christian, it’s work that we do to help,” Mandelbaum said about being nominated. “Is it a Jewish experience? Absolutely. Our bible in Leviticus talks about leaving some of the harvest in your field for food for the poor.”

Rock and Wrap It Up! partners with sports teams such as the World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals, television productions such as Boardwalk Empire and music acts such as Paul McCartney to recover food that was prepared and would have went to waste. The uneaten food is then provided to organizations that feed the hungry.

Mandelbaum started the organization in 1991 when he partnered with Jones Beach Amphitheatre to recover the venue’s leftover food. His parents, who had survived the Holocaust, told him stories of people starving to death, which influenced Mandelbaum in his work.

“I felt the day since my parents told me what they went to, I felt I had to earn God’s blessing that he let my parents survive,” Mandelbaum said. “So many around them starved and died from disease, and somehow my parents always had a will to live. I’ve tried to use that to motivate me.”

If Mandelbaum wins the contest, he said the grant would go a “long way” to expand his organization’s newest effort, Hungerpedia, a database that matches agencies in need with food donors.

“There are plenty of individuals who dream of doing something heroic and astounding like feeding millions of hungry people,” wrote Rabbi Sholom Stern of Cedarhurst’s Temple Beth-El. “Syd has done it and is deserving of our praise and admiration.”

He continued, “The least we can do is to take a minute out of our schedule and cast our vote for Syd. Nothing will please me more than Syd being the recipient of this year’s coveted and prestigious award, I hope many of you feel the same way.”

You can vote for Mandelbaum here. Rock and Wrap It Up! is always in need of donations and volunteers. Go to its website for more information.