Vo lu m e S I X | W I NTE R 2 010
Your Jewish Community Connection
In This Issue: Beit Vancouver / Partner Agencies / Jewish Education
F ed er at i o n Welcome to Federation Focus, the quarterly supplement about your Jewish Federation, its partner agencies and their impact on Jewish life. Federation Focus keeps you informed and connected with important issues in our community, ensuring that everyone knows where to find a helping hand and where to extend one.
Beit Vancouver Offers a Safe Haven and Hope to Israeli Youth Anyone who has ever parented a teenager, or simply been one themselves, knows how easy it is for teens to drift off-course without positive influences and activities to fill their time. The challenges of those formative years increase exponentially in places such as the Upper Galilee Panhandle, our Federation’s partnership region in Israel. While a naturally beautiful and pastoral setting, this is an economically, politically and geographically isolated area sits on the borders of Lebanon and Syria— surrounded on three sides by hostile neighbours, and heavily shelled during the Second Lebanon War just four years ago. Far removed from the political and economic centres of Israel, teens and young adults in the Panhandle often have trouble finding direction and moving beyond their current socio-economic circumstances, even after army service.
But there are signs of progress and hope in the area. Shortly after the 2006 Lebanon War, Beit Vancouver opened its doors. The youth centre is located in Kiryat Shmona, the largest city in the Upper Galilee Panhandle. The centre, funded by Federation and individual Vancouver donors, gives children and teens a fun, secure site for a
immigrants looking for ways to integrate and connect. Those who grew up in the region still bear psychological scars from the war, but flourish at Beit Vancouver. Securing the ongoing funding needed to meet the growing needs of the community’s youth continues to be an ongoing challenge. Patti Aknin of Richmond chaired a Federation mission to
Spielberg. It’s wonderful to see these teens reach for the stars.” It was clear to Aknin and her fellow mission participants that Beit Vancouver is playing a direct role in helping the area’s youth find direction and hope for their future. However, it was not long ago that the future of the centre itself was in doubt. Pamela Wolfman, chair of Federation’s Patti Aknin, mission chair
“ Beit Vancouver offers the youth of the north, a safe, secure, creative and nurturing environment that our local community can be proud of.” variety of programs, and a place to hang out with their peers. Some of the kids have limited parental supervision or involvement; some are new
Israel in October. She and the other mission participants were inspired by what they witnessed at the centre. “Beit Vancouver offers the youth of the north, a safe, secure, creative and nurturing environment that our local community can be proud of. When we visited we were astonished by the sheer number of children and teens participating that evening. Every room was full, from a group of girls in a modern dance class, to older teens who’ve deferred their army service a year in order to volunteer in the community.” Aknin adds that “One boy in particular stood out. He had deferred his army service and was spending the year volunteering in Kiryat Shmona, and was making a film about his year of volunteer experience. When we dug a little deeper to find out if film was something he wanted to pursue as a career, he looked shy at first and then very confidently declared that his dream is to be the next Steven
Partnership 2000 committee, says that after emergency campaign funds (raised in the wake of the 2006 Second Lebanon War) slowed and the current recession took hold, Beit Vancouver was forced to close its doors for a short period last winter: “Federation worked with the city of Kiryat Shmona and the Rashi Foundation to reopen the centre in March 2010.” Wolfman adds that while the centre has picked up where it left off, welcoming back area teens and children with innovative programming in a comfortable, secure and fun setting, long-term funding remains a priority. Ensuring that Beit Vancouver not only stays open but thrives is vitally important in a region that sees all too frequent disruptions to normal life. For more information on how you can help support Beit Vancouver, please contact Jewish Federation at 604.257.5100.
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Vo lu m e S I X | W I NTE R 2 010
Your Jewish Community Connection
Partner Agencies Display Support You may have heard the numbers before: the Federation Annual Campaign provides funds to 64 programs at 27 local partner agencies, as well as those overseas and in Israel. The work done by these partner organizations is vitally important to our entire community. And so it is essential that community members see where their campaign gifts go and the efforts they support. To that end, Federation has produced a decal that proudly advertises its partnership with and support of local agencies.
Every time you see the decal with “Your Federation dollars at work here”, you will know that, through your gift to the
Among the local agencies displaying the Federation decal is the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
Rick Nelson, executive director, JCCGV
“ Support from Federation means that we can maintain our commitment to the community to never turn anyone away.” Federation Annual Campaign, you are supporting that agency and its role in strengthening our community.
For many people, the JCCGV is heart of our community and their first stop in a new city. JCCGV executive director
Rick Nelson says that its partnership with Federation helps ensure that the centre will continue to fulfill its mandate: “With the current economic situation, the JCC has seen a marked increase in requests for assistance with membership and program fees, as well as tuition and camp scholarships. Additional support from Federation means that we can maintain our commitment to the community to never turn anyone away.” You will also see the Federation decal at the Jewish
Family Services Agency— an organization with a critically important role in our community. Programs operated by JFSA can mean the difference between jobtraining and bleak stretches of unemployment, between counseling and untenable relationships, or between a family’s homelessness and a roof over their heads. Your gift to the Federation Annual Campaign supports the work of JFSA, the JCCGV and 25 other vital local agencies that create the underpinning of our community. These partner agencies have faced increased strain over the past two years that has been exacerbated by the economic
downturn and slow recovery. The current needs of the community must be met, while simultaneously maintaining a long-term outlook and planning for the community’s future. To that end, Federation increased the fundraising goal for this year’s campaign. Funds will help replace the vital programs and resources that were scaled back in response to the economic downturn, strengthen gateways to Jewish life, and build for the future. If you have not yet had an opportunity to make a gift to the Federation Annual Campaign, you can make a gift online at jewishvancouver.com.
New Initiatives Encourage Many Forms of Jewish Education Two of the cornerstones of Jewish faith and culture are family and education. Recognizing these priorities and reflecting these values, Jewish Federation is supporting family education programming in a variety of forms across the community. Some of the programs complement children’s formal Jewish education; others provide meaningful ways for families to explore Jewish learning outside a day school setting. Many families are choosing supplementary schools as a way for their children to receive formal Jewish education. This year, for the first time, Federation has distributed grants totaling $20,000 for family education programs to supplementary school programs throughout the Lower Mainland. Schools are funding an array of activities including classes for parents while their children are in school, special family programming around Jewish holidays and enhanced b‘nai mitzvah classes to prepare both the students and their parents for the bar/bat mitzvah.
As part of its Jewish Education Services program, Federation also presented a half-day professional development program for supplementary school teachers, which featured Eva Grayzel, a performance artist, storyteller and motivational speaker. The workshop was
part of an ongoing series of seminars for supplementary school educators, and focused on using storytelling as a way of engaging families in Jewish learning. In total, 40 educators attended the two development programs. Recognizing that there is also a need for family
education programming for those whose children may not be receiving formal Jewish education, Federation organized a workshop called Enriching Your Parenting Experiences, featuring Grayzel. The workshop’s focus was on helping parents use ritual and storytelling as ways of
incorporating Jewish culture and traditions into their daily lives. Federation’s Jewish Education Services program recently offered a professional development workshop for early childhood educators within our community to help them incorporate new and innovative techniques across the learning spectrum. In addition to skill development workshops, participants had the chance to network and share best practices. Early childhood educators covered topics ranging from the early learning framework to storytelling in a full-day program that represented the first opportunity for such collective professional development in almost 20 years. The PJ Library, a new and innovative way to engage families, is presented by
Federation in partnership with the JCCGV. This popular program, just introduced to our community last spring, already has 360 children registered. Each month, the kids—ages six months to five years—receive free Jewishcontent books and music. Federation is coordinating family education events throughout Greater Vancouver that will build on the PJ Library materials. For many families, whether for reasons of geography, absence of nearby family, or personal choice, this will be their primary— or only—source of Jewish learning. As the circumstances and needs of families change, Federation and its partners in Jewish education are committed to exploring new options to maintain the learning that helps to define the identity of our community.
jewishvancouver.com
There’s still time to make a gift that touches us all. The Federation Annual Campaign touches thousands of lives—but we can’t do it without you. Your gift touches every part of our community: the too many still struggling in this uneven economic recovery; the seniors who deserve to age with dignity; the parents still stretching to pay for Jewish education; the children with special needs whose families still seek to connect to services. While you may not think it impacts your life, practically every time you participate in Jewish programming, attend a community event or connect with a Jewish organization, your life is touched by the Federation Annual Campaign. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity, please make a secure online gift at jewishvancouver.com today.
It touches you, too. Make your gift online at jewishvancouver.com