Looking out over a sea of people in garb ranging from hijabs to yarmulkes to baseball caps, enjoying laughter and conversation with one another over bagels and coffee on a holiday few in the room even celebrate, Batya Abramson-Goldstein couldn’t help but smile.

“This is what should be,” the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council said approvingly. “What this program demonstrates is that this is what can be. It’s not just a wish. Communities can come together.”

And communities did just that Sunday morning, when upwards of 400 volunteers, most of them St. Louis area Jews and Muslims, turned out to mark Christmas by doing service projects for a variety of causes. The idea grew out of a trial run of sorts last year when the JCRC helped put together a similar Christmas Eve initiative to do a charitable endeavor.

This time 21 such efforts were on the agenda. Sponsored by the JCRC, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, service projects were planned at a number of sites around the community and organizers were overwhelmed, even a bit stunned, by the turnout for participation in the various mixed-faith groups.

“It was our first year so we really didn’t know what the response would be,” said Gail Wechsler, JCRC’s director of domestic issues and social justice. “We’re really overjoyed. It’s a testament to the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other faith communities that they wanted to come out and do something to help others.”

At Temple Emanuel, which hosted an effort to package toiletries for families at the nearby Ronald McDonald House, Rabbi Justin Kerber seemed almost shell-shocked by the number of people who showed up to pitch in.

“It beats my wildest expectations,” said Kerber. “I was expecting two dozen.”

Probably twice that number arrived.

“My biggest fear is that we are going to run out of toiletries long before we expected to,” he added. “That’s a crisis of success. It’s a great problem to have.”

Kerber was also at the JCC for the 9 a.m. breakfast to deliver the morning’s rousing invocation before the groups headed to their individual sites. He told participants he hoped someday efforts such as these would be rendered unnecessary by a society that has cured ills such as hunger and injustice.

“I’ve got to tell you, I felt so honored when they asked me to do that,” he said. “Out of all the sermons I’ve had to write, all the bulletin articles and letters to my membership, for the last couple of weeks this one has been on my mind. I wanted to get it just right.”

Zubaida Ibrahim, a board member of the Islamic Foundation, said the day of service seemed a perfect fit since charitable work is a tenet of all three major monotheistic religions.

“My personal belief is that with Jews and Muslims working together we can make a bigger impact in our communication and our friendships,” said Ibrahim, who planned to spend the day at the Masjid Daar-ul-Islam mosque packing dry soup mix to help the hungry. “I see it working very well. We’re getting there.”

She noted the presence of many children in the building and said it was important for the next generation to see the religions working together to benefit society.

“This is where we have to start,” she said. “We have done what we could do and now they have to take it over. If they have good communication and no bad feelings about each other I think they can do a better job than us.”

Khalid Shah agreed, saying it was important to set a good example for youngsters, most of whom would spend the day at the JCC engaged in age-appropriate charitable projects.

Shah, who was scheduled to visit residents at the Rosewood Care Center with his group, is no stranger to either interfaith efforts or service projects, being a member of both an interfaith dialogue group and various Islamic philanthropic efforts. He noted the importance of charity in Islam.

“Jews in many ways are really leaders in this sort of thing,” he said. “They have a great record of serving the community so it’s a natural partnership.”

Participants’ reasons for involvement varied. Fred Levko of Congregation B’nai Amoona said he and his spouse have long been a part of “Cookies for Heroes,” a program that delivers tasty baked goods to police and firefighters who work on Christmas. This time, that program was rolled into the day of service so he was happy to attend.

“It’s a way of contributing to the community and being a part of the general population of St. Louis making it better for all,” said the Wildwood resident.

Back at Temple Emanuel, Mike Krem, a resident of unincorporated St. Louis County, was trying to fill the gap left by the annual Super Bowl party for the homeless held jointly by Congregation Kol Am and a Southside Catholic church. The 37-year-old synagogue shut its doors earlier this year due to financial difficulties and Krem was looking for a new charitable endeavor.

He said his reasons for coming were twofold.

“One is that I have something to do – besides going to the Chinese restaurant,” laughed Krem, now a member of Temple Emanuel. “The other is being a benefit to other people and meeting new people.”

Nasreen Bibi, 17, said it was an opportunity both to help those less fortunate and for people to learn about one another’s culture. The Parkway West student said she’d already been asked about the nature of her hijab, the traditional Muslim head covering she wears. She was at Temple Emanuel with two friends, one of whom wore a niqab, a veil that left only her eyes visible.

“When you come together at gatherings like these, people can open up more and not be afraid to ask questions,” Bibi said.

Other faiths participated as well. Eric Roundtree, 44, is a member of Temple Emanuel. His wife is Jewish though he is Christian.

“To help other people is part of the spirit of the season be it Hanukkah, Christmas or whatever it is,” said the West Countian. “Just to do this and show our kids a good example of charity, it’s all worth it.”

Taking a break from assembling care packages at the temple, Terry Duffy said service is a religious requirement.

“It’s part of what God commands us as Jews to do,” he said. “We’re commanded to do mitzvot, love our neighbors as ourselves and to walk humbly before God. This encapsulates all three of those.”

Duffy’s learned a lot about mitzvot of late. After a year-long process, he completed his conversion from Christianity to Judaism just as Hanukkah began. This Christmas afternoon, the Temple Emanuel congregant had been a Jew for all of four-and-a-half days becoming a member of the faith at age 68.

He laughs and points out that, according to Torah, Abraham left Haram at age 75.

“Compared to him, I’m a youngster,” he chuckled.

Temple Emanuel congregant Hallie Huber said that for many with interfaith roots, days like this could have deep significance.

“I talked to one woman raised with a Jewish and a Christian parent. She married a Muslim,” she said. “I would have to think this is wrapped in a whole lot of meaning for her.”

But even those with no affiliation could find themselves looking to help. Violante Ames, known as “V” to her friends, is not a part of any religious institution but simply decided to spend the day volunteering. Recently relocated from Columbia, Mo., the new resident of Fairview Heights isn’t even fully moved in yet. She said she had many friends but no family in the area and wanted to get involved.

“As a member of a greater humanitarian community, it’s a profound and beautiful thing to see everyone coming together,” said Ames. “There’s no labels. There’s no angst. There’s no anxiety. Everybody’s just here as part of the greater good.”