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May 24, 2002
Campaign exceeds goal
The community has responded well to aiding Israel.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
The local Israel Now emergency campaign has already surpassed its
fund-raising goal of $1.5 million, a good two weeks before it was
scheduled to wind down.
The campaign, which is raising money to be donated directly to victims
of terror in Israel who are struggling for survival, has been in
operation since the beginning of April and will continue until early
June.
As of May 21, the pledges and donations for the campaign totalled
more than $2 million.
"We have pledges coming in so fast that we can't even add them
up fast enough," said Cory Bretz, marketing communications
director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver.
The Jewish communities of Canada had committed to raise $30 million
and Vancouver's $1.5 million goal was set based on the local Jewish
population base.
Bretz said he is not completely surprised to see the members of
the B.C. community willing to contribute to Israel in this time
of need.
"We knew people would step up to the plate but I think that
what we are surprised about is the extent that people are giving
and the fact that they don't need to be convinced of how important
it is," he said. "When we launched into the campaign,
we decided to ask people to double whatever they gave to the annual
Combined Jewish Appeal campaign last year and give 30 or 40 per
cent of that to Israel right now. I expected people to fall out
of their chairs, but they didn't."
Bretz said that the campaign, launched just two weeks after the
fatal Passover bombing in Netanya, is giving people an outlet to
help in ways they feel comfortable.
"Just after Passover I kept hearing people say, 'I've got to
do something,' " he said. "They don't all want to get
on a plane to fly to Israel but they know the money could make a
big difference to the people whose lives have been turned upside
down."
On May 26, the campaign continues with the Walk With Israel event,
which starts at 9 a.m. at Beth Israel Synagogue.
On June 13, lay leaders of the local Jewish community will head
to Israel on a solidarity mission where they will meet with local
Israeli families, as well as the prime minister of Israel, Ariel
Sharon. As of press time, almost 20 people had signed up for the
mission.
The Jewish Federation has also made a series of presentations to
the boards of directors of their constituent agencies, as well as
other communal agencies, in order to educate as many people as possible
on the situation in Israel.
For more information about the Israel Now emergency campaign, call
604-257-5100.
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