Shabbat Message - April 23, 2021

This message has 862 words and will take a little more than 4 minutes to read.

We may live in a world of instant gratification, but we work in a world where some of our greatest strategic achievements—and those of our partners—are years in the making. It’s in that context that we want to applaud our partner, Jewish Family Services, on one of their greatest achievements, the opening of The Kitchen!
 
Located in Mount Pleasant, The Kitchen is the new location for JFS’ food programs. Here’s how JFS describes it:
 
The JFS food hub will be a multi-functional and welcoming space offering life-skill learning opportunities through our community garden, our in-house kitchen, and more. Care managers will be available onsite and available to meet with clients, one-on-one, for a range of social services conveniently located in one place. When it is safe to do so, this new space will be a venue where celebrations and cultural events will bring people together to gather and build life-long connections. There will be healthy food, cooking classes, counsellors to talk to, and space for workshops, all provided  at this new location. It’s how we can meet the real needs of our community in an environment that is dignifying and empowering.
 
There has never been a more important time for the launch of The Kitchen. When COVID initially hit, community organizations reported that they were seeing a four-fold increase in the need for meal and grocery delivery, and we expect that this increased level of need will be the new normal. Food insecurity is an increasingly complex issue that needs an increasingly sophisticated approach, such as that which The Kitchen will provide.
 
Over the past several years, we have worked closely with JFS on food security. Our organizations jointly led the Food Security Task Force, co-chaired by Stan Shaw and Renée Katz, from which the initial vision for The Kitchen arose. In fact, it was one of the task force’s key recommendations.
 
I attended a sneak peek of The Kitchen and was incredibly impressed. You can watch the video of the opening event here.
 
One of the most rewarding parts of my job—and for my colleagues—is getting to work with our amazing volunteers. There are literally hundreds of talented and passionate people in our community who devote their time and their skills to our organization. Together, they bring perspectives and professional expertise that make our work better and help us more effectively serve our community. Their contributions are truly invaluable and incalculable. In honour of them during National Volunteers Week, our team put together this video, which features many of our dedicated volunteers.
 
Cultivating new leaders is an important part of our work, both here and in Israel. In our partnership region of the Upper Galilee Panhandle, we are doing that through our Galil-Up program. The program includes active community leaders and entrepreneurs from different sectors. The current cohort took part in a virtual tour of local organizations on Tuesday. It included an introduction to our community by Jewish Federation senior leadership and staff, and it continued with breakout rooms with different community organizations, including schools, synagogues, community services, and Israeli grassroots organizations. It was a great opportunity for these up and coming leaders to learn more about Jewish community life in the diaspora, and they were fascinated by our unique and diverse community.
 
Speaking of community leaders, our Community Recovery Task Force, chaired by Risa Levine, has been hard at work gearing up for the next round of grants that they will recommend to our board early in the fall. Fortunately, donors from across our community and beyond are supporting our recovery efforts. Among them are a number of corporate donors, including some of which you’ve already heard about, if you follow us on social. Today, we want to say a special thank you to RBC for continuing to support our community through the Annual Campaign, as they’ve done for many years, and for increasing their generosity to support community recovery. You can watch their video here, and see videos from PearTree Canada and BMO here and here. You can see all of our corporate supporters on our website here.
 
Professionals play an important role in a community organization like ours, too, and we want to welcome the newest member of our team, Sara Bandel, who joined us this week as manager, marketing and communications. Sara is a graduate of Vancouver Talmud Torah and a Camp Miriam alumna, so our work is close to her heart. She returned to Vancouver in 2018 after spending several years working in Beijing, honing her marketing and communications skills at two of the city’s top international schools. She brings a wealth of experience developing and implementing integrated marketing and communications initiatives, and in content creation and social media management.
 
I always describe working for the community as a calling, and that holds true for our volunteer leaders, too. If that calling appeals to you, I’m always more than happy to talk with you about where it can take you.
 
Shabbat shalom.

Ezra S. Shanken
Chief Executive Officer