Josh Mallenbaum, Morgan Bober, Meryl Mulligan, Sean Mulligan, Eliot Weinstein, Jade Rouzeau, Samantha Golden, Eric Miller, David Calliot, Joash Schulman and Benyamin Yaffe at BSHEV.
Super Sunday, January 25, 2015 • 9 am–1 pm • Volunteers needed for two shifts
Planning a successful fundraising event often involves many hours spent strategizing and meeting inside boardrooms or offices.
In the case of Super Sunday, the largest, single Tidewater Jewish community-wide fundraising day of the year, that’s the norm as well, for most of the meetings.
There is an exception, however, for the committee members who volunteer to gain experience, knowledge and leadership skills as part of the Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Super Sunday steering committee.
One scheduled meeting each year is reserved for a field trip, or, in a name borrowed from some of the Jewish community’s most memorable trips, a mini-mission.
Eliot Weinstein, 2015 co-chair, explained the mini-mission concept to the 10 committee members who boarded a small bus on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, preparing to embark from the Sandler Family Campus.
One of the best ways to learn about who is helped by funds raised on Super Sunday, where the community’s donations go and why the event is so important, is by visiting some of the UJFT’s affiliate organizations and meeting some recipients, explained Weinstein.
The group traveled first to Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, where executive director Betty Ann Levin met them and led a guided tour of the facility. The next stop was Beth Sholom Village, where weekend nursing supervisor Katia Guerrier walked the young adults through the Berger Goldrich Home and the Terrace and introduced them to some of the Home’s residents.
The mini-mission concluded with a return trip to the Sandler Family Campus where Deb Segaloff, development director of the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning and the Strelitz Early Childhood Center, met them. Segaloff showed them around HAT and Strelitz, and, as a former Super Sunday chair and committee member herself, discussed the intricate and important eco-system of the Tidewater Jewish community.
The response from committee members to the field trip was overwhelmingly positive; a spirit of determination to make this year’s Super Sunday phone-a-thon successful, meaningful and memorable was palpable.
The group’s consensus was that, through this mini-mission, there was a greater understanding of what the UJFT does and how contributors to the UJFT’s Annual Campaign—of which Super Sunday is a vital part—make lives better through their donations.
Observations and comments from committee members:
Beth Sholom Village has grown and matured beautifully since I last visited over a decade ago. It was heartwarming to see our community elders playing ball during our visit. In fact, it was so much fun, our YAD leaders had to join in! I felt we were there to show that we understand that neither our seniors, nor their care, or our Jewish tradition, are things to take for granted. Their wisdom is embodied in us.
Joshua Mallenbaum
The mini mission really underscored the critical roles that organizations like JFS and Beth Sholom Village play in our community. Whether it’s a child whose family can’t afford a Chanukah gift or who is coping with the loss of a parent, an older person in need of a place to call home or who is no longer capable of managing their own affairs—funding from the UJFT is essential to help these important programs continue to make meaningful differences in peoples’ lives.
Joash Shulman
Knowing that the Hebrew Academy and Strelitz Early Childhood Center are available resources in our community is a wonderful feeling as expectant parents. A Jewish education is so important from an early age and we are lucky to be able to utilize these programs. The community’s continued support of HAT and Strelitz is vital, and will help build the next generation of leaders in our community.
Meryl and Sean Mulligan
by Laine Mednick Rutherford