Places of worship of all religions have activities like, Bingo, fairs, or dinners that they put on for their community members. But since the Coronavirus pandemic took over, these events like many others have been canceled.

"We visit with each other, we say shabbat shalom to each other we give handshakes, hugs, and we can't do that," Bruce Corris said, the president of Congregation Shir Shalom.

What You Need To Know


  • The pandemic has made raising money difficult for many local places of worship

  • One temple in Buffalo says Bingo is their biggest fundraiser of the year and can't host it because of COVID-19

  • Congregation Shir Shalom has fundraisers in their parking lot

Not only is time apart difficult mentally, but the temple like many others is missing out on some of their biggest fundraisers of the year that pay majority of expenses.

"To not have that Bingo revenue coming in every week is difficult we have to be creative and we're doing as many other fundraisers as we can," Corris said.

Even if there's a green light to get Bingo back, Bruce says it's not that simple, they would have to figure out how many people are allowed in one room and a that point it might not be a wise revenue choice.

"Would our players want to come back? Bingo players are older and they're the high risk group. Our members who are our workers, our Bingo workers are members who volunteer their time, look at all the people who are reluctant to go back to their jobs because of conditions," Corris added.

Bruce says, on top of everything, his community lost one of their members who was also an avid Bingo player. He says he misses doing anything he can to see someone smile.

"I called Bingo wearing a Grinch costume, I was the Grinch who stole Bingo, and they love that."

In the meantime, the temple is going to continue doing Zoom events and fundraisers in their parking lot.