Jewish Family Services AGM Report
President's Report
AGM (Zoom)
Jewish Family Services
of Vancouver Island
August 11, 2022
In 2022, we received several grants that allowed us to support our clients for food security and to reduce social isolation- our two main focuses that correlate with our mission statement. A large grant from the Canadian Food Centres of Canada for grocery gift cards was distributed in March and April that gave $100 per family member for two months. This was very timely as it assisted many of our clients to buy groceries over the Passover Holiday season and were a big boost when food and gas prices started to rise this year. We also received grants from Mazon Canada that due to our consistently successful programs, we went from a yearly application to three years at a higher amount with a simplified yearly report. The Mazon grant goes toward the JFSVI Yom Tov holiday program that supports families and individuals with gift cards and holiday treats four times a year. We also received a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Vancouver to hire a market coordinator for our pilot program- the Saanich Green Market. In addition we received a grant from the Victoria Foundation to pay for startup costs and expand our food budget for the market over the course of the year. We wish to thank Sandra Glass for her assistance in applying for these grants.
In April 2022 we received a grant from the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island. Although were are appreciative of the support, this grant was almost half of what we received in 2021. The abrupt reduction in funding will not allow us to run our current programs at the same level of support as in the past. The Food Subsidy is a large part of our budget every year and we hope to be able to hire a part-time social worker or community support worker. We have many high needs clients that require professional assistance. Our list of people that we help regularly is approximately 60 people-about 36 client units. Jewish Family Services of Vancouver Island will be working on a variety of fundraising strategies to make up the short fall of approximately $7,000.
Art Auctions: Thanks to art donations from Lindy Shortt and a Vancouver artist, Pnina Granirer, we are looking at various auction houses to sell those art works that were determined to be of some value. This project we hope will bring some much needed revenues to help make up the short fall that we did not anticipate this year.
We continue to run our program “The Phone Tree”- with a wonderful volunteer, Linda Silverman who contacts 15 to 20 clients each month on a regular basis. This connection really makes a difference for many of our clients.
2002 Achievements:
We continue to send out a monthly newsletter- “Reach Out” to communicate with the Jewish Community and let them know how we are doing and what our plans are for the future. We launched the new the JFSVI website in early 2022 and created a Facebook page in May 2022 to promote the Saanich Green Market. The Market was launched on June 12, 2022 and will run every 1st and 3rd Sunday on the month until June 2023. We have a new phone number from Shaw Business Communications, ( all digital, no equipment needed) and are now working with the VanCity Credit Union for grants, banking, business advice etc. Vancity offers special accommodations for not-for profits and we have reduced banking fees accordingly, saving several hundred dollars a year.
We also save on digital communications and graphic design fees thanks to the skills of Leah Kinarthy (yours truly) who has certifications in Multi Media Design and Internet Publishing from UBC as well as training in graphic design software. This allows JFSVI to work with digital software such as mail chimp, Squarespace, Shaw Communications etc. at a much lower cost as we do not currently depend on hiring someone to maintain our website or work with our digital newsletter for example. As a mighty, but small organization, JFSVI strives to save money wherever we can and to fundraise using strategies that do not overwhelm the relatively small financial base of the Jewish Community of Victoria.
We continue to work on community partnerships for the Saanich Green Market and are very grateful for the donations in kind from Cobs Bread on Shelbourne St, the Shelbourne Fairway market for the use of their coolers, the Scout Hall and the Cedar Hill Scout Troop for the use of their tables and chairs and the use of their building when we move the market indoors. We are very appreciative of the many local farms, such as Gobind Berry Farms and SunWing tomatoes for their discounted prices. We wish to thank the Bikery Bakery in Victoria and Omnitsky deli in Vancouver for their discounts in support of the Saanich Green Market project. We are proud to be working with the Shelbourne Community Kitchen as they receive any left over produce and that goes back into our local community.
Volunteers are working at the market from all areas of the local community and we are looking forward to expanding community involvement over this year. JFSVI would like to acknowledge the expertise and enthusiasm of Leon Zetler for showing us the “ropes” and arranging all of the Saanich Green Market purchases. I would also like to acknowledge the participation in the market of various other volunteers, Phyllis Chuly, Damaris and Mark, Elyse Kertez and her son Nicolas, Susan Corman, Hannah Friesen, Tal Katz, and our special thanks to Zohar, Ortal and Oreet Stefanic. We also appreciate the administrative assistance of Ari Kinarthy and the communications and marketing advise from Deena Kinarthy and Elior Kinarthy. We also wish to thank Rabbi Louis Sutker for his assistance with JFSVI clients that needed some emotional and spiritual guidance.
Ora Stefanic continues to work for JFSVI as the market coordinator and is working hard to promote and create a sustainable and enjoyable farmer’s market for everyone in our community.
I’m proud to be a part of such a creative and pro-active organization.
Sincerely, Leah Kinarthy, President JFSVI