February 8, 2012
Dear Friends of Jewish Family Services,
Here’s a chance to catch your breath… and make a difference too!
For the fourth year, Jewish Family Services is presenting our annual Stay-At-Home Dinner event on February 20th. As in past years, we hope you will join us in observing Family Day. Click here for your invitation NOT TO ATTEND our gala.
These days, everyone is so busy and sometimes we all find it hard to carve out quality time with those we love. So, everyone at JFS wants you to honour yourself and your home life for a day.
While we need your support, instead of asking you to commit time to attend an event, please spend Family Day together – good times gathering with family and friends. Then, make a gift.
As you enjoy your special day, we hope you will also choose to make a gift to the SMART (Seniors Making Age-Related Transitions) Program that we run in partnership with the Jewish Seniors’ Centre. SMART provides supportive services that enable seniors to live as independently as possible — at an optimal level of psychological, social and physical functioning.
We are there to help in many ways. For example:
- if an aging parent has become housebound or isolated.
- when someone needs help navigating the health system.
- at times when it is difficult to get to medical appointments or social events.
- if a senior or family struggles with decisions about moving into assisted living or continuing care.
- in cases where a seniors’ loved ones live far away.
These are just some of the supports we can give to elders of Edmonton’s Jewish community. But we need your help to make it happen.
Giving this way is truly painless… there’s no suit to be dry cleaned or gown to be bought, no babysitter needed and no other event to be missed. Instead of putting your family on hold as you spend another evening away, we ask that you just say no…
Make the choice to stay put and thoroughly enjoy Family Day! You might want to visit a favorite aunt or have a special meal with Zayda and Bubbe. Maybe you will pull out the family photo albums, play some board games or catch a movie. Outdoors or in, as you enjoy time together and make new memories, we hope you will remember those neighbours who need you to help, with heart.
Just think of what you might have spent attending a gala dinner & auction, and instead, donate that money directly to services for Jewish seniors.
Do you know what your mitzvah can achieve?
- $36 – will cover the costs of assessing a senior’s needs.
- $72 – will enable a two-hour home visit with a housebound or isolated senior.
- $360 – will fund transportation costs for the SMART Program for a full month.
- $720 – will ensure that more than 100 elders can enjoy a kosher dinner for Purim or another special holiday.
Our wider-community funders like United Way support a large portion of our programs that serve both the Jewish and wider communities.
However, we must raise additional dollars for services that are specific to the Jewish community. Grants from the Federation, the Edmonton Jewish Community Charitable Foundation, the National Council of Jewish Women and others provide considerable resources but they simply aren’t enough to maintain our Jewish-focused programs. In fact, we assisted more than 150 seniors in 2011 and this year we must raise an additional $60,000 just to keep pace.
So, on February 20, please don’t come to our fund-raising event. Stay home and enjoy time with those who matter most to you.
And please make a generous gift to help ensure Jewish Family Services keeps providing services that are important to the health and wellbeing of our elders.
Just click on the Donate Now button below, or click here to see the other ways to give.
Yours for the family,
———————————————————— 
Lewis Wasel
President
PS. Please email our executive director (Larry Derkach) or director of development (Mike Campbell) or call them at 780.454.1194 if you wish to discuss other giving opportunities.
PPS. For those who really want to attend a JFS event, we hope you will consider becoming involved as a sponsor and or golfer at our first annual FairWays for Families golf tournament. We are excited about this new event and hope you will join with the Larry Rollingher Community Fund and sign up now.