Jewish Family Service Agency

JSA AGM honours volunteers

Karon Shear was one of the volunteers honoured at the Jewish Seniors Alliance AGM on Sept. 14. (photo by Alan Katowitz courtesy of Jewish Seniors Alliance)

The annual meeting of the Jewish Seniors Alliance was held on Sept. 14 at Congregation Beth Israel. The business meeting was followed by a dinner and awards ceremony.

The business portion of the evening was called to order by JSA president Ken Levitt. Prior to the presentation of committee reports, a number of organizations offered greetings. A d’var Torah was delivered by Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, who emphasized that, according to Jewish law, we are not to cast aside seniors as they are at the heart of the community. And both Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, and Gudrun Langolf, acting president of the B.C. Council of Senior Citizen Organizations (COSCO), also said a few words.

Following the approval of the agenda and the minutes of last year’s AGM, Larry Meyer delivered the treasurer’s report. He outlined the various funding sources of JSA – government, corporate and private grants, as well as the $18 annual fee from members/supporters. He also listed the programs this money supports, such as peer counseling, Senior Line magazine, the fall symposium, the spring forum and the Empowerment Series, as well as the website, jsalliance.org.

Pamela Ottem, chair of the Peer Support Program, outlined the various aspects of the service. Peer counselors are required to take 55 hours of training prior to being assigned a client. They are given ongoing support in their work by Grace Hann, who is also the trainer, and Charles Leibovitch, who is a social worker. It takes 15 hours of training to become a Friendly Visitor. These volunteers visit shut-ins and lonely seniors; another part of the program is friendly phone calls and service information and referral. The peer support program has 56 trained volunteers serving 70 seniors.

The JSA’s Ambassador Program, whose goal is to raise awareness of elder abuse, started with a one-year grant and has been incorporated into the other offerings. Hann, Leibovitch and some of the volunteers make presentations to other seniors groups about their activities.

Binny Goldman reported that JSA has 596 members/supporters, of whom 320 are individual members, 150 are members of the Most Russian Bridge group and 21 are from affiliate organizations.

photo - Debbie Rozenberg, left, and Sylvia Yasin — Debbie Rozenberg, left, and Sylvia Yasin. *(photo by Alan Katowitz courtesy of JSA)*

In Levitt’s president’s report, he briefly reviewed the activities of the JSA, emphasizing that the organization would not exist if it were not for the active involvement of its volunteers. He pointed out that the peer support program alone, if it were carried out by paid staff, would cost much more than JSA’s total budget. He thanked everyone, both staff and volunteers, who have worked so hard and contributed so much over the past year.

Marilyn Berger presented the report of the nominations committee. She read out the slate for the coming year and moved for acceptance. Two former board members were mentioned, Edith Shier, who has passed away and was the previous editor of Senior Line, and Milton Adelman, who has retired from the board but was for many years the treasurer of JSA. Levitt then called for the adjournment of the business part of the evening and everyone was invited to move to the tables for dinner, volunteer recognition and musical entertainment.

Jazz singer Jill Samycia entertained the approximately 150 dinner guests, after which came the awards presentations to volunteers. As has become JSA’s custom, several organizations were asked to nominate senior volunteers who have spent time and energy enhancing the goals of their organizations.

Karon Shear, who was coordinator and administrator of JSA from 2005-16, was nominated by JSA. Her service to seniors, and enthusiastic marketing, played a vital role in the development and growth of the organization. In presenting her with the award, Serge Haber described her as the heart and soul of JSA. He spoke of the countless hours she spent, off the clock, on weekends, working at home; how she produced the Senior Line magazine basically on her own for a time.

photo - Nassa and Arnold Selwyn — Nassa and Arnold Selwyn. *(photo by Alan Katowitz courtesy of JSA)*

Sylvia Yasin was nominated by the Jewish Family Service Agency. Yasin has volunteered for many years with the Jewish Food Bank and was instrumental in creating relationships with various groups and individuals and obtaining ongoing donations of supplies for school-aged children. She was presented with her award by Debbie Rozenberg, who noted that Yasin began volunteering while still working full time. Yasin has been involved with the Terry Fox Run and with ORT. Among other things, she organized the gift wrapping in shopping malls that raised funds for ORT. She also helps set up and clear for the seniors lunches at the Kehila Society and is still involved with the Jewish Food Bank.

Nassa and Arnold Selwyn were nominated as a couple for their longtime volunteerism at Congregation Beth Israel. Infeld talked about Arnold’s singing for the congregation and Nassa’s beautiful sewing of the parochet (ark curtain) and the siddur covers. Together they bring holiness into the world, said the rabbi. Both of them act as greeters and have been part of many other committees. They are also active in the general community and are part of Showtime, an entertainment group of seniors.

All of the honourees expressed their thanks and appreciation to JSA and the nominating organizations. The message to all was, volunteer whenever you can and wherever you can – it will bring you feelings of fulfilment and joy.

Samycia performed again, during dessert, and a number of the guests got up and danced to the music. The evening ended with a draw for door prizes.

Barbara Bronstein and Larry Shapiro were co-chairs of the event.

Tamara Frankel is a member of the board of Jewish Seniors Alliance. Shanie Levin, MSW, worked for many years in the field of child welfare. During that time, she was active in the union. As well, she participated in amateur dramatics. She has served on the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and is presently on the executive of JSA and a member of the editorial committee.

Lunch with bestselling author

Robin Esrock speaks at the Jewish Family Service Agency’s Seniors Lunch program. (photo from JFSA)

Well-known travel writer Robin Esrock gave an inspirational talk to the Jewish Family Service Agency’s Seniors Lunch program, which took place at Congregation Beth Israel on July 11.

Esrock has written for several publications, has been a TV host and his book The Great Canadian Bucket List was on the bestseller list in Canada and Australia. He told the approximately 40 guests the story of how his adventure-focused career began and how he has been very fortunate in the unorthodox path he has chosen. He also shared his philosophy, which is “you are just where you are supposed to be.”

JFSA’s Seniors Lunch program comprises a kosher meal once a month at Beth Israel and twice a month at Temple Sholom on Tuesdays at noon. All Jewish seniors are welcome. For more information and reservations, call Queenie Hamovich at 604-558-5709.

JFSA lunch raises $266K

Hootsuite’s Ryan Holmes speaks to an attendee at the Innovators Lunch on May 4. (photo by Sandra Steier)

More than 550 people at the Jewish Family Service Agency’s Innovators Lunch on May 4 raised more than $266,000 for the important services JFSA provides.

Starting the event at the Hyatt Regency, featuring Hoosuite founder and chief executive officer Ryan Holmes, was Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld who, before the motzi, said a few words about volunteer Elayne Shapray, whose funeral had been that morning. Incoming JFSA board chair Karen James also spoke about Shapray’s contributions, noting that she had been “honored with the highest volunteer award from JFSA, the Paula Lenga Award, for her quiet strength and years of support.”

photo - Innovators Lunch committee members, left to right, Shannon Ezekiel, Hillary Cooper and committee chair Sherri Wise with keynote speaker Ryan Holmes, CEO and founder of Hootsuite — Innovators Lunch committee members, left to right, Shannon Ezekiel, Hillary Cooper and committee chair Sherri Wise with keynote speaker Ryan Holmes, CEO and founder of Hootsuite. *(photo by Sandra Steier)*

When event chair Dr. Sherri Wise took to the podium, she thanked everyone involved in making the lunch possible, including her co-chairs, Shannon Ezekiel and Hillary Cooper. Richard Fruchter, senior management consultant at JFSA, added his thanks and, after a video about JFSA’s impact, introduced Dr. Neil Pollock who, with his wife Michelle, matched all new and increased donations to the lunch up to $20,000.

Pollock spoke about his family’s involvement with JFSA. In particular, he spoke about Dorita Flasker, who came to Vancouver from South America as a senior, having had all her wealth expropriated by her home country’s government. In the years since JFSA connected them, she and the Pollocks have become family, and they all recently celebrated her 80th birthday together.

Shay Keil of Keil Investment Group of ScotiaMcLeod, one of the lunch’s co-presenting sponsors, introduced the keynote speaker. Holmes founded Hootsuite in 2008, said Keil, taking the company from a small startup “to a global leader in social media with over 13 million users, including 800 of the Fortune 1000 companies.”

“My parents were both teachers – they left teaching in the ’70s to get back to the land, to become farmers,” said Holmes. “They bought a hobby farm. I grew up with goats, chickens … kerosene lamps, a water well in the Okanagan Valley.”

He discovered computers – “magical things” – at the library. The librarian noticed his enthusiasm and suggested he enter a schoolwide programming contest. Two months later, he won the contest – the prize, an Apple IIc computer, which had to be connected to the family car’s battery, as their home had no electricity.

His first business was a paintball company he started in high school. He went to university to study business, but dropped out and opened a pizza place, which he ran for a couple of years. After selling the restaurant, he moved to Vancouver, bought a computer and started learning how to build HTML websites. He got a job at a dot-com that crashed about six months later, so founded his own agency, Invoke. He continued to learn his craft and eventually hired employees. They had customers to whom they would provide computing services and they built a number of products, such as product-management and e-commerce systems.

“Around 2008, we started to do marketing on social media for our customers,” he said. “What we realized very quickly was that there weren’t very many tools out there to manage social media…. We needed a tool to help manage multiple team members and multiple social networks all from one place, and that was the aha moment for Hootsuite.”

Soon thereafter, Hootsuite was launched. Investors were found about a year later – “Remember, this was at a point when people were asking, ‘Is Twitter just a fad?’ ‘Is Facebook just the next MySpace or the next Friendster, is it going to be obsolete in a year?’ People didn’t know if social media was relevant and was here to stay.”

Hootsuite – which has about 800 employees – is headquartered in Vancouver, but has offices around the world. “We send 28 million messages a week and these messages reach three billion users across the planet every week.” Among those users have been the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements, and the White House.

“We’re in an era of unimagined disruption,” he said, pointing to three trends driving it: social (sharing videos, for example, which can go viral), a more collaborative economy (businesses like Uber) and mobile.

“Sixty percent of people who complain on Twitter expect a response within one hour,” said Holmes. “So, if you’re a brand, if you’re a business, and you’re not there … it’s like you don’t have a website, like you don’t have a telephone…. The thing about social is there is an implied contract: you’re naked and transparent….” If customers do not get a response, “they’re going to talk about it over and over again and, so, you’re going to be brought into the open as a business.”

Holmes compared various communications technologies. “The telephone took 75 years to reach 50 million users, radio 38, television 13, LinkedIn six-and-a-half, Twitter four, Facebook three, Instagram 1.7. Adoption is happening quicker and quicker.”

He then talked a bit about Snapchat, and showed the audience how to use it.

About the next big thing, he hopes that, like “the PayPal mafia” – “a group of alum … [who are] driving a lot of the innovation that’s happening in Silicon Valley” – there will be a “maple syrup mafia.”

“I would love to see the alum of Hootsuite go on to create the next 10 Hootsuites within Vancouver and more within Canada,” he said.

Already, the B.C. technology sector employs more people than the mining, oil and gas, and forestry sectors combined. To create an even better ecosystem for innovation, he said, there are three key requirements: capital (money to build companies), environment (places for people to live and work) and talent (education and immigration, as there currently is a lack of supply).

“There is huge opportunity for people who want to head into this industry,” he said, predicting an increasing demand for these types of jobs.

During the question-and-answer period, Holmes responded to concerns about privacy – he believes the good aspects of technology outweigh the bad; housing – a problem for every business, he said, putting the onus on the government to increase supply, create more diverse product (not just 500-square-foot living spaces) and implement policies to control demand; and corporate responsibility, which he thinks will become more of an issue. To him, the lack of what once were basic skills – such as writing – is simply the evolution of language, the next steps being the keyboard and more voice-activated technology.

Are food banks here to stay?

In March 2013, 833,098 persons were served by food banks in Canada. Food bank use remains high and many Canadians depend on food banks for weekly, semi-monthly or monthly grocery items in order to put food on the table. One-half of the families being served include children and close to one-half are two-parent families. More than one-third of food bank recipients are children, many of whom are school age and go to bed hungry.

In Richmond, 1,300 persons are served each week by the Richmond Food Bank. Of the 1,300 recipients, there are 524 persons who actually attend this food bank and they represent 2.4 persons per household. The majority are seniors and people with mental health issues. These groups usually visit each week. Others who use the food bank are on low incomes and use the service as needed. Users must be Richmond residents. Once residency is proven, recipients are granted food packages on an honor system. The average value of a food hamper is about $100 and the food bank tries to ensure the five basic food groups are included.

The Jewish Food Bank in Vancouver serves 350 persons, of whom 55 are children under 18 years of age, and 95 are seniors. If, as it is estimated, 16% of the Jewish community lives on or below the poverty level, it is possible that many in need are not being served or are being served by other organizations. The value of each Jewish Food Bank hamper for a single individual, for example, is $54. Larger family units receive more food. This is in addition to food vouchers supplied by Jewish Family Service Agency. Food that is made available is seen as “supplementary,” enough to fill the gap until the next pay cheque or income. Food hampers are delivered every two weeks to those unable to attend for personal pick up.

For seniors, this is a very troubling scenario. As of two years ago, three out of five women in Greater Vancouver over 65 lived on an income of less than $25,000 per year (as reported by United Way). Many seniors on low, fixed incomes must make major decisions each month. Once rent is paid, are there enough funds for food or do they have to choose between prescription drugs (if not covered by a drug program) and food? Will there be funds for sundries, clothing and entertainment? Will there be enough money to eat out once or twice during the month? Most of us who live in the comfort of our warm homes take this for granted. For a good description of the need for affordable housing, see David Hume’s excellent article in the Nov. 23 Province.

It is generally accepted that food banks had their origins in the early 1980s during a major recession. Hunger was affecting the lives of many Canadians who were unemployed, unable to work, under-employed or whose incomes were below a living wage. It was to be a short-lived situation until the economy improved, as it eventually did, and the need for food banks diminished. However, today, food banks are an integral part of the social fabric. There are currently about 500 food banks across Canada, a sad commentary for a rich nation. In this writer’s opinion, food banks have become secondary extensions of weakened social safety nets. In this respect, food banks may be seen as undermining the state’s obligation to respect and fulfil its requirement to ensure that none of its citizens go hungry. Food banks are driven by poverty but in no way solve the problem of poverty. If anything, the goodwill they provide allows governments to opt out of taking their leadership role in decreasing the need for food banks.

Those persons who staff and volunteer at food banks are not “do-gooders looking for recognition.” Volunteers are the backbone of most not-for-profit organizations. The volunteers that I met while observing one food bank in action were made up mostly of senior citizens who were giving back to the community, who understood the plight of those being served and who served them with respect and genuine caring. Thousands of individual donors, many anonymous, provide millions of dollars each year in support. Many corporations take great pride in supporting food banks, in kind and in cash. They often make the public aware through advertising, hoping what they do will encourage other corporations to do the same.

Food banks will be needed for some time in the future until governments at all levels – federal, provincial and municipal – develop, embrace and put in place a viable national anti-poverty program. Food banks can collectively lobby for stronger and sustainable social safety nets for those in need. In a recent publication, Dignity for All: A National Anti-Poverty Plan for Canada (2013), a number of priorities were considered: income security, housing and homelessness, health, food security, early childhood education and care, jobs and employment. If two or three of these were prioritized and put into operation, it would bring many thousands into mainstream Canada.

Much has already been studied and written about poverty and its effects on too many Canadian citizens. It is time for a concerted and coordinated plan of action. Until that happens, thank G-d for food banks.

Ken Levitt is a vice-president of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver and a former chief executive officer of Louis Brier Home and Hospital.

Sharing business vision

Innovators Lunch speaker Brian Scudamore with Kate, left, and her mother, Wendy, who received supportive services from Jewish Family Service Agency in a time of need. (Adele Lewin Photography)

The 2015 Innovators Lunch raised almost $296,000, with more expected. The total was boosted by speaker Brian Scudamore, founder and chief executive officer of 1-800-Got-Junk?, donating back his fee to the Jewish Family Service Agency.

On April 29, 545 people came out to hear Scudamore speak at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. They also watched a video featuring several people who had been helped by JFSA’s programming and service provision, one of whom, Michael Narvey, addressed the crowd. The audience also heard from JFSA board chair Joel Steinberg, Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, day-of-event co-chairs Megan Laskin and Hillary Cooper and senior management consultant Richard Fruchter. Shay Keil of Keil Investment Group, which was a co-presenting sponsor with Austeville Properties, introduced Scudamore.

Though Scudamore dropped out of high school and out of university, he said, “I love to learn. I love asking questions, meeting people and learning why they are successful, what motivates them and drives them in life. It just happened to be that school did not work for me.”

So, he became an entrepreneur, with a focus on vision, people and systems. He illustrated the importance of these three things in the story of how he became a businessman.

In summer of 1989, he was one course short of high school. Knowing he wasn’t going to complete that course, he talked his way into Langara College, one of the four colleges he would attend briefly. His vision at the time was to go to college and that’s what he did. However, he had to find his own way financially, as his parents weren’t going to fund his studies, given his history: “I don’t think it was a good ROI [return on investment],” he admitted.

While waiting in the line of a McDonald’s drive-through, Scudamore noticed that pickup truck in front of him had the hauler’s phone number on the side. He thought, “What a great idea. I had a thousand dollars in the bank, took 700 of it to go buy a pickup truck of my own.” He spray-painted his number on the side and parked it in different locations around the neighborhood. “Mobile billboards got me business and, within two weeks, I had a business that was humming and making money.”

The experience of building something, his interactions with customers and having fun inspired him to consider business as a future. “My grandparents, my Jewish grandparents … ran a small Army Surplus store in a fairly impoverished area of San Francisco downtown. I used to go down every spring break, summer, Christmas holiday, Chanukah, go work at the store, and I loved it. I loved watching how they treated people. They were the only store on the street that wasn’t robbed once a week. In fact, in their history, they were only robbed twice because I saw that they would give an ear to anyone who came in…. They would never give money, but they would give love, attention and time of day to somebody. They developed a group of friends in the community and the word out on the street was that you just don’t mess with the Lorbers, they’re nice people.

“I learned that business wasn’t just about ringing the cash register and making money. It’s never been that for me, and thank goodness for the influence of my grandparents. For me, business is having fun, bringing people on board and building something special together.”

By 1991, he was at the University of British Columbia. Bored, he made a deal to sell his business, which fell through. This failure taught him “that the low moments precede the highs.” And something good did happen. He grew the business and, in 1992, on the advice of his then girlfriend, he told his business story to the press. The result: a front-page article in the Province. He described it as a “full-sized ad, for free…. I’m going to systematize this and start doing more.” That day, he not only “felt like a rock star,” but he got “100 phone calls in 24 hours.”

In 1993, he finally sat down with his dad to tell him that he was dropping out of university. He incorporated his business, went from one to three trucks and was at about half-million dollars in revenue by 1994.

He had 11 employees but nine of them weren’t the right fit, he said, so he fired them all. He took full responsibility for not being a good leader, for hiring the wrong people. He apologized, and learned from the experience. Among the most important lessons: “it’s all about people.”

He spoke about The EMyth, “the most incredible business book” he’s ever read, which recommends running your business like a franchise even if you don’t plan to make it one. Franchises tend to be more successful, he explained, because they are based on systems of best practices that can be replicated. He followed that direction and, in 1997, hit a million dollars in revenue.

He joined the (Young) Entrepreneur Organization. For him, “it was a way to learn from others, other businesspeople, entrepreneurs that had been successful. I could understand what works and what didn’t, and that filled my thirst for knowledge.” He also actively sought out mentors and people on whom he could rely for advice.

In 1998, he was “bored” and wanted more. He wrote a short list of possibilities, or goals, including “being the FedEx of junk removal,” being “on the Oprah Winfrey Show” – “I envisioned a future that was so crazy, but I started to read it and I’m, like, my craziness actually seems real to me. I could see the vision, the picture in my mind, and I latched on to it and I said I will make this happen – not if, I hope to, want to, will try to, I will make this happen, and I crystal-balled the future.”

At the time he wrote down this vision, he had almost 10 paycheques written to himself that he couldn’t afford to cash, and there were employees who quit over his new direction. Nonetheless, he began to learn about how to franchise. He spoke to many people, he got over hurdle after hurdle, including having to find out who owned the phone number 1-800-Got-Junk and buying it once he did – from the Idaho department of transportation – as he’d already designed the logo with the number. The first franchise was created in 1999 and it made $1 million in the first year, “because we had the systems.”

In the next several years, the focus was on franchising and also on systematizing the media aspect, which had proven so useful before. “Fortune magazine did this three-page feature and we had 506 inquiries in the first week, and I’ll say the first week was Thursday to Sunday.”

He asked his employees what they could imagine with regard to growing the business, with the caveat that they would have to take responsibility for bringing the idea(s) to fruition. The company also works with employees to help them set and accomplish personal goals and, in 2004, 1-800-Got Junk? won British Columbia’s best company to work for contest. They immediately set upon figuring out how they could win it again, not for the sake of winning, but to keep improving the business and the work environment.

At $100 million in sales in 2006, the rollercoaster descended, he said. They dropped $40 million in revenue and he had to fire his best friend – “thankfully he knows it was the right decision.” They were both quick shooters and the business needed a more cautious partner. In the end, the entire leadership team was changed, dozens of people laid off, “partially because of mistakes we made, partially because of the recession. It was awful.” Three and a half years of rebuilding, however, turned things around.

Scudamore has learned to embrace mistakes, to learn from them, and he encourages his employees to do so, as well. “If you’re not making mistakes, if you’re not getting out of your comfort zone and taking risks in life, you’re not living,” he said.

Once he found the right-hand person who best complemented his strengths and weaknesses, Eric Church, the business expanded into other companies, such as Wow 1 Day! Painting and You Move Me. He also expanded personally into other areas, such as becoming involved in Free the Children with his family, thanks to Lorne Segal. He “didn’t have this sense of philanthropic community” when he was a kid, but his daughters, now 10 and 7, believe they “can actually change the world.”

He said, “I believe that we all have a purpose to do something great in our lives and we’ve all got to get to building something, a family, community, charitable organizations and business.… I think, again, it comes down to, ‘It’s all about people.’ Can you inspire people, can you find the right people and treat them right?”

One thing Scudamore loves about community, “is people helping other people.” He concluded, “I don’t know if everybody knows their purpose and what they’re doing. I often believe sometimes you need to be a little crazy to think you can change the world, but I think that we’re all a little crazy, and I know that we can.”

For more on Scudamore, visit 1800gotjunk.com/us_en/about/brian_scudamore.

JFSA still has garden plots

The Jewish Family Service Agency’s community garden was halved by CPR. (photos by Cynthia Ramsay)

photo - CPR no trespassing sign — In asserting their ownership, CPR insists that it is still an active rail line.

As many residents have witnessed, the legal dispute between the City of Vancouver and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) has reached a point of no return, with many community gardens along the Arbutus corridor destroyed by CPR in the past few months.

The dispute between the city and CPR is about the future of the 11-kilometre railway line that was in use from 1905 until 2000, when the line was shut down. Since then, there have been ongoing discussions about the future of the line and its surrounding land. In asserting their ownership, CPR insists that it is still an active rail line.

In the past 15 years, several community gardens have flourished along the old railway line; one of them is the Jewish Family Service Agency community garden that provides produce to the Jewish Food Bank.

photo -JFSA's community garden provides fresh produce to the Jewish Food Bank. — JFSA’s community garden provides fresh produce to the Jewish Food Bank.

Guy Askadsky is a JFSA volunteer who has been working with the garden for the past two years. His team of volunteers meets at the garden twice a week to work together and foster the two plots that provide pears, figs, plums, almonds, raspberries, blackberries, currants, strawberries, zucchini, winter squash, kale, collards, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, parsley, chard, peas, beans and arugula. All the crops are organic and go directly to the Jewish Food Bank and its customers.

“Our food bank clients are extremely happy to get this fresh organic products in their baskets, it’s healthy food that is usually very expensive in the grocery store,” said Askadsky over the phone. “Our production volume was cut to half because of the dispute between the city and CPR, we had to clear half of our garden, and now the volunteers see [that part of the land] standing there without any use, it’s kind of frustrating, but we have to adjust to the reality. Our reward is being able to provide an important need for many in our community that are unable to enjoy that kind of variety without a garden.”

The JFSA community garden is always looking for volunteers. Anyone interested in joining the gardening team can email Askadsky at gaskadsky@jfsa.ca.

Shahar Ben Halevi is a writer and filmmaker living in Vancouver.

JFSA appoints Richard Fruchter

Jewish Family Service Agency has appointed Richard Fruchter as senior management consultant. He began working in this position on Jan. 7, and will be leading JFSA while the executive director search committee continues its efforts in identifying candidates and hiring of the long-term ED.

photo - Richard Fruchter — Richard Fruchter *(photo from Jewish Family Service Agency)*

“We are pleased to welcome Richard, who not only brings with him tremendous experience and a proven track record in not-for-profit organizations in Jewish communities in North America, but also has a thorough knowledge of our Jewish community, having served as the senior management consultant of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver from 2013-2014,” said board chair Joel Steinberg.

“Richard will support the agency with his extensive knowledge in areas of finance, fundraising, communications, board governance and human resources – initiatives that were identified in our strategic plan. Prior to his tenure in Vancouver, he was the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and, over the last 30 years, he has been in top executive positions with federations, Talmud Torah [schools] and other general community organizations in Seattle, Wash., Minneapolis, Minn., and Tucson, Ariz.”

“It’s an exciting time at the JFSA as we build for the future,” said Fruchter. “I will be playing a strategic and advisory role with the board and staff to help JFSA continue to transform the lives of individuals and families, through quality services and innovative programming. The last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to visit some of our programs, see their impact, and learn more about how we respond to evolving community needs. I found our staff to be dedicated and committed professionals – passionately working day in and day out to care for their clients. Our board and volunteers are talented and willingly share their wisdom and resources to provide for our community’s welfare. During this transition, I look forward to having renewed and fresh conversations with our community members, leaders and donors about how JFSA can even more effectively service our community.”

Special night with VSO

Michael Fish initiated a unique VSO-JFSA collaboration, which will see JFSA clients attend the symphony on Nov. 15. (photo from Michael Fish)

“There is a direct relationship between cultural experiences and good health. Whether it’s participation in the arts or appreciation for the arts, there is an emotional response for those who engage in these experiences,” said Joel Steinberg, president of Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA).

Steinberg was offering this observation in the context of a unique opportunity that JFSA has to help 200 clients attend a special concert of music by Jewish composers performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) at the Orpheum on Nov. 15.

Michael Fish, who has been a board member for the VSO for four years, wanted to encourage more Jewish community involvement with the symphony.

“In an effort to promote the VSO, as well as bring our community more into the fold, I decided to try to do something special,” Fish told the Independent. “With the support of the VSO’s conductor and musical director, Bramwell Tovey, the VSO agreed to put together a concert of all Jewish composers that I could use as a vehicle for my goal.”

Fish continued, “I then approached Jewish Family Service Agency and asked if they would be interested in sending some of their clients to an evening of Jewish music with the VSO. Knowing that many of their clients would not have the means to purchase a ticket for themselves, I took it upon myself to raise the funds from within the Jewish community to make it happen. I was thrilled at the fantastic response.”

According to Steinberg, Fish has used his advocacy very effectively for JFSA. In addition to organizing this concert, Fish secured a full page in VSO’s Allegro magazine recognizing “Friends of JFSA,” thereby helping JFSA communicate its mission to VSO patrons.

“Many people do not realize that about 10 percent of our clients are non-Jewish,” said Steinberg. “They are mostly users of home support and counseling services, both of which are fee-for-service and help generate critical revenues for our organization to support our other programs. This is a great opportunity for JFSA to raise its profile in the general community while benefitting our clients.”

According to Alan Stamp, JFSA’s director of counseling, the agency sporadically provides “tickets for inclusion” to clients who are in need and who have identified an interest in the arts. The program is managed by JFSA social workers on a case-by-case basis. One of the challenges with the existing system is that tickets are often donated last minute by supporters of JFSA who realize that they will not be able to use them. It can be difficult to match tickets with clients, many of whom face mobility challenges, on short notice. This event with VSO is on a different scale.

Silkie Wong, who works in development and communication at JFSA, has been assisting the department’s director, Audrey Moss, with coordinating the project from the JFSA side. Wong noted that JFSA organizes transportation where possible to ensure that clients can attend, as some of their clients find it difficult to get out on their own. Wong pointed out why this type of event is important: “This is a unique and meaningful experience. Attending cultural events enables our clients to live life, not just survive it.”

Steinberg hopes this avenue for inclusion, initiated by Fish, will spur others to step up and bring such more initiatives forward. “We hope that we will have an ongoing partnership with VSO, and that more of our friends connected to other organizations will help us open more doors and build similar partnerships,” said Steinberg.

Fish considers this is a win-win situation. He is excited about the beautiful music that both JFSA clients and members of the greater community will share, as well as the concert’s potential to raise the profile of VSO in the Jewish community. He summed up by saying, “The musicians will be playing to a larger audience, JFSA’s [clients and] patrons will enjoy a great evening, and perhaps the VSO will pick up a few patrons along the way. What could be better than that?”

To learn more about this concert, visit jfsa.ca.

Michelle Dodek is a freelance writer and community volunteer living in Vancouver.

Food always needed: Project Isaiah

(photo from Jewish Food Bank Report 2013-14)

Project Isaiah is the annual High Holy Day food drive that assists those members of the community who are in need. All donations go directly to the Jewish Food Bank to assist individuals in the community – seniors, families and newcomers.

Sponsored by Jewish Family Service Agency and Jewish Women International-British Columbia, Project Isaiah is inspired by Isaiah 58:7: “… share your bread with the hungry.”

The Jewish Food Bank’s 2013-14 report, released last week, notes that the situation of the Jewish community mirrors that of the larger community, wherein most people living on fixed incomes or earning minimum wage in British Columbia spend 60 percent of their income or higher on housing, leaving 40 percent or less to cover utilities, medication and clothing, as well as food. With the rapidly growing cost of living, and lower economy, more families are having to access food banks for help:

• 12 percent of B.C. residents are unable to meet basic needs and do not have access to adequately nutritious food in sufficient amounts.

• For the past eight years, British Columbia has been ranked as the highest province in Canada for children living in poverty.

• Food bank usage is at an all-time high.

• 7.7 percent of B.C. residents are considered “food insecure” and go without or on reduced food intake.

The Jewish Food Bank supports almost 400 Jewish individuals. Each time clients visit the food bank, they receive approximately two to three days’ worth of food per individual.

All of the households served live at or below the poverty line and 80 percent of all households spend at least 60 percent of their income on rent. All clients are assessed and authorized by a JFSA caseworker. Currently, the food bank helps 55 children and teenagers, 248 adults and 91 senior adults.

Annually, more than 45 volunteers provide operational support to the food bank. The volunteers do the ordering, pick up donated goods, set up, as well as deliver to more than 50 homebound clients. With additional volunteers for its annual food drives, Project Isaiah, and the newly established Project Sustenance in the spring, volunteers contribute close to 3,500 hours of support.

The food bank is fully funded through the generosity of JFSA donors, the fundraising efforts and donors of JWI-BC, gift-in-kind donations of food through various food drive events, such as Project Isaiah and Project Sustenance, and ongoing donations collected by community partners. This past year, it had an operating budget of $149,200, with in-kind donations of food making up a value of $30,000 of the annual budget.

Close to 40 community partners provide ongoing food donations, supplies and space to support the Jewish Food Bank. These partners help lower the cost of operations and play a critical role.

This year’s Project Isaiah is underway, and the food bank is hoping that you will consider sharing your bread with the hungry (now and throughout the year). Take a bag home from a local synagogue or Jewish day school and return it, filled with food. A suggested shopping list includes high-nutrition items such as canned fish (tuna/salmon/sardines), peanut butter (plastic bottles only), canned fruit, canned vegetables, cooking oil (plastic bottles only), whole grain pasta/rice/cereals, legumes (canned or dried), dried fruit (prunes/apricots) and toiletries (includes children’s diapers). Note: check the “best before date” on products, as expired products cannot be accepted.

If you are unable to contribute food, JFSA and JWI-BC gratefully accept monetary donations (and issue a tax receipt).

For more information about Project Isaiah, contact Debbie Rootman at JFSA (604-257-5151, ext. 230) or drootman@jfsa.ca, or Sara Ciacci at JWI-BC (604-838-5567).

Project Sustenance is the Jewish Food Bank’s second food drive

Debbie Rootman, community developer and program coordinator for the Jewish Food Bank.

On Sunday, June 1, from 1-4 p.m., the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver will be the site of Project Sustenance, a major food drive in support of the Jewish Food Bank. Community members, who are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to donate, will be treated to live entertainment, a kosher barbecue and a kids-oriented crafts table hosted by Vancouver Talmud Torah. The drive is organized in partnership between the Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA), Beth Tikvah Synagogue, Jewish Women International (JWI) and the JCCGV.

The idea for the drive came from Beth Tikvah’s Francie Steen and Shelley Ail, who is the lead food bank volunteer, said Debbie Rootman, community developer and program coordinator for the Jewish Food Bank. Steen and Ail are event co-chairs.

This is the first year of Project Sustenance, but JFSA “hopes to have it annually, because hunger is 365 days a year,” Rootman told the Independent. In an average month, she said, the Jewish Food Bank provides meals for 250 people, 65 of whom are children. “On top of helping so many people in the community,” Rootman said, “on special times of the year, like Passover and Rosh Hashanah, we distribute hampers to another 170 clients of Jewish Family Service Agency.”

Project Sustenance is meant to be the second food drive of the year for the Jewish Food Bank, which organizes Project Isaiah each High Holiday season with the help of local synagogues. Rootman and her colleagues had “always talked about doing another one in the spring, but haven’t had the time or volunteer power to do it,” she said. In fact, by about January every year, the food bank has usually run out of the goods donated in the fall. Typically, after January, the food bank has had to largely rely on cash donations, “so that way we can buy food, which we do bi-weekly for fresh vegetables and fresh bread and other things that we need,” she added.

“It was started as a temporary measure, but we’ve still got it today. So, it has grown. Many of the reasons [for that growth] are because Vancouver is very expensive, so some of the people we see are working poor … disabled people, elderly people, people on fixed incomes we are helping, as well as people going through tough times … everybody has challenges in their life, so we are here to help for those times.”

The Jewish Food Bank “was started 33 years ago by two women,” Rootman said. “It was started as a temporary measure, but we’ve still got it today. So, it has grown. Many of the reasons [for that growth] are because Vancouver is very expensive, so some of the people we see are working poor … disabled people, elderly people, people on fixed incomes we are helping, as well as people going through tough times.” She added, “everybody has challenges in their life, so we are here to help for those times.” Her personal philosophy, she said, is that “charity begins at home.”

The Jewish Food Bank operates out of the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture every other Thursday and is organized and staffed by volunteers. Elaborating on the scope and value of those contributions, Rootman said, “The Jewish Food Bank could not operate without the many volunteers.” She said there is always a need for volunteers to drive goods to clients who lack mobility, to organize food at the bi-weekly food banks and to sort Project Isaiah food donations in the fall. Right now, they are hoping that more volunteers will step forward to help with “set up and take down on June 1, as well as sorting” the donations.

The Jewish Food Bank is a community-wide effort, and Project Sustenance is no different. Aside from Steen and Ail, JWI’s Sara Ciacci has been involved in Project Sustenance through “major fundraising for the Jewish Food Bank,” said Rootman, and the JCCGV has donated the space for the June 1 drive. Some of the other major sponsors include Broadway Moving, which has donated a truck to transport the donated food, Omnitsky’s Kosher, which is providing kosher hot dogs, and Signarama Richmond.

Project Sustenance follows Beth Tikvah Synagogue’s presentation of A Place at the Table, a film that screened on May 13 to raise awareness about hunger in the community. The documentary explores the various issues surrounding hunger and the means to solving this serious problem. The screening was followed by a panel discussion, which included Rootman, who said she found the film to be “very powerful,” and Alex Nixon from the Richmond Food Bank. The panelists connected the information in A Place at the Table to Canada and the local Jewish community.

For those who are unable to attend on June 1, “food donations can be dropped off at any synagogue, Jewish school, the JFSA office or the JCC,” Rootman said. Community members can also make a cash or credit card donation by calling JFSA at 604-257-5151.

Zach Sagorin is a Vancouver freelance writer.