Template.notification_item.helpers({ showItem: function () { try { this.message(); return true; } catch (e) { return false; } }, properties: function(){ return this.data; }, notificationHTML: function(){ return this.message(); } }); Template.notification_item.events({ 'click .action-link': function(event, instance){ var notificationId=instance.data._id; Herald.collection.update( {_id: notificationId}, { $set:{ read: true } }, function(error, result){ if(error){ console.log(error); } } ); } });