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    Eating Weird Snacks to Eliminate Medical Debt: A Purim Party! 

    By Annie Prusky, Jewish Life Specialist

    INTRODUCTION:

    This program is a fun, creative way to experience three of the mitzvot of Purim: feasting, gifting, and donating. We’ll start with a snack flight of the world’s weirdest treats (according to you), followed by a white elephant swap of guaranteed-to-be-awesome mishloach manot. Finally, bring your loose change, because we’re auctioning mystery snacks for Undue Medical Debt, where $1 wipes out $100 of debt! 

    PRO TIP: This program is eligible for at least three grants to spend on the materials: Jewish Holiday, Jewish Learning, Tikkun Olam 

    NOTE: You are welcome to swap out Undue Medical Debt for another worthy organization, such as your local food bank. 

    MATERIALS:

    • A surface on which to serve food 
    • Mini tasting plates (small disposable plates work great for this) 
    • Pre-made miniature mishloach manot, each with two small ready-to-eat items (ideally a different combo in each box). Have fun with the combos! For example: 
      • A clementine and a cookie 
      • A bag of granola and a peppermint 
      • A chocolate bar and a wellness shot 
      • A pickle and a bag of potato chips 
      • A Ferrero Rocher and a mustard packet 
    • Small bags/boxes for the mishloach manot that hide what’s inside (example) 
    • A whiteboard or poster board to keep track of $ raised during the auction 

    PROGRAM OUTLINE (~60 minutes):

    • Welcome & Schmoozing (5-15 minutes) 
    • Snack Flight & Learning (20 minutes) 
    • White Elephant Mishloach Manot (15-30 minutes) 
    • Auction (10-20 minutes) 
    • Schmoozing & Goodbyes (5-15 minutes) 

    Before the Program

    • Create miniature mishloach manot and wrap them or close their boxes 
    • Make sure participants bring two identical weird snacks, one for the feast and one for the auction. When you invite people, give them specific examples of “weird” to spark creativity (e.g., “a fruit you don’t recognize at the grocery store,” “pickle-flavored cotton candy,” “imported chips from a specialized grocery store,” or “that one snack from your childhood no one else has heard of”). 

    Feast & Learning (20 minutes)

    • As people arrive, they open one of their weird snacks and place it on the Feast Table. They put their other (unopened) snack in the auction bin. 
    • Once everyone has arrived, announce that the Feast Table is open. While folks try their snacks, share a bit about the mitzvot of feasting, sending gifts to friends, and donating to the poor. Some suggested resources: 
    • When discussing gifts to the poor, make sure to mention that exorbitant debts also qualify someone as needy for the purposes of this mitzvah. 

    White Elephant Mishloach Manot (15-30 minutes)

    • Bring all the wrapped mishloach manot into the center of the room. Have the participants draw lots (Purim theme!) to determine the order in which they go. Then, use a White Elephant mechanic to distribute the mishloach manot: The first person picks a bag/box and opens it. The next person can “steal” that gift or pick a new one. As each person’s turn comes around, they can open a new gift or “steal” any opened gift (the now empty-handed person opens a new one). Once the last gift has been opened, the person who went first can “steal” from any of the gifts that have been opened. 

    Auction (10-20 minutes)

    • Remind everyone about the mitzvah of giving gifts to the poor and explain how organizations that buy debt in bulk are able to have such a significant impact.  
    • You may want to share a story or two to give a personal connection to the cause. 
    • You may also want to connect debt relief to Jewish values 
    • Before bidding starts, remind the group: “Every $1 we raise here can abolish roughly $100 in medical debt.” This makes a $5 bid for a weird bag of chips feel like a $500 act of justice.  
    • Make sure people donate their money right away before you move onto the next item – if you’re collecting cash or coins, they can put it into a bowl. Have everyone cheer for them, even if they’re only donating 25 cents for a single twizzler! 
    • As people bid, have someone keep track of the total in front of everyone so you can celebrate how much debt you wiped out at the end. 
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