{"id":13427,"date":"2015-06-26T00:13:28","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T07:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=13427"},"modified":"2015-06-25T18:04:01","modified_gmt":"2015-06-26T01:04:01","slug":"helping-kids-entertaining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/06\/26\/helping-kids-entertaining\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping kids, entertaining"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jerry Maslowsky, executive director of Variety, the Children\u2019s Charity of Manitoba. (photo from Jerry Maslowsky)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jerry Maslowsky, executive director of Variety, the Children\u2019s Charity of Manitoba, has a long history with the organization.<\/p>\n

Maslowsky, 57, started off in performing arts as a teenager, in Rainbow Stage productions. Coming from a musical family, the stage was where he felt most at home.<\/p>\n

He later became a member of a band called Special Blend and, for 18-19 years, he was with them, playing for many weddings, bar mitzvahs and graduations. He came across Variety in his early 20s, singing on the charity\u2019s telethon in the 1980s. However, his work with them was yet to come.<\/p>\n

Maslowsky was approached by CJOB radio station to take on the role of marketing director, with a major aim being to bring the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Winnipeg Jets to the station. Then, in 1999, he was hired as director of sales by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, becoming their vice-president of marketing and sales, and working with the team for 15 years.<\/p>\n

A year ago, Maslowsky felt it was time to move on, as an opportunity with Variety came up. The organization\u2019s previous executive director, who Maslowsky knew very well, was retiring.<\/p>\n

Since Variety started as an entertainer\u2019s charity, it was something in which Maslowsky was very interested \u2013 working with kids and giving back, as well as \u201censuring that all kids are having a childhood just made sense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The original chapter started in Pittsburgh in 1927 as an international children\u2019s organization, the initiative of a group of 11 men involved in show business, who set up a social club, which they named the Variety Club.<\/p>\n

Maslowsky explained, \u201cOn Christmas Eve 1928, a small baby was left on the steps of the Sheridan Square Film Theatre, with a note. The note read, \u2018Please take care of my baby. Her name is Catherine. I can no longer take care of her. I have eight others. My husband is out of work. She was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always heard of the goodness of show business people and pray to god that you will look after her.\u2019 Signed, \u2018A heartbroken mother.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSince efforts to trace the mother failed, the members of Variety Club named the child Catherine Variety Sheridan, after the club and the theatre on which steps she was found. They undertook to fund the child\u2019s living expenses and education. Later, the club decided to raise funds for other disadvantaged children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, there are more than 44 Variety \u201ctents\u201d (described as \u201ctents\u201d for its circus component) throughout the world. Manitoba\u2019s Variety started in 1978, and it has helped more than 800,000 children throughout the province, raising more than $30 million. The B.C. chapter celebrates its 50th anniversary this year; over that time, it has raised more than $170 million, every year assisting more than 1,200 children. There are other tents in Canada, with a new one slated to open in Montreal.<\/p>\n

Maslowsky credited Gene Telpner with bringing a Variety tent to Winnipeg. He got the idea, \u201cthen called his good friend, Monty Hall of Let\u2019s Make a Deal<\/em>, and they were able to formulate a tent in Winnipeg that was really run by a lot of the people from the Jewish community in the entertainment and hotel industry \u2013 people like Mickey Levine from the International Inn and Harvey Nairn. A lot of people in the entertainment industry took a hold of this and created the organization and telethons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Variety\u2019s mission is to meet the tangible needs of children with all abilities. \u201cThis means that every child does have an ability,\u201d explained Maslowsky. \u201cSome children\u2019s abilities are different than others\u2019. We basically look at every child, the abilities they have, and other abilities maybe they lack. That\u2019s where Variety comes in, in how we can support the child as well as the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen children belong here, we call them part of Variety family, because it\u2019s just not always the immediate need we look after. We also look after ensuring the child\u2019s and family\u2019s needs throughout those years, before they come into 18 years old, that Variety stays a part of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of Maslowsky\u2019s mandate at Variety is to reach out to alumni, \u201ckids\u201d who are now 36- and 37-years-old, to see how they are doing, and to bring them back as mentors for younger Variety children.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we did that was important for me when I came back was going back to our roots of showbiz, circus and entertainment,\u201d said Maslowsky.<\/p>\n

He went to work, calling on his friends from his entertainment past. \u201cSo, we were able to plan a Come One, Come All \u2013 Under the Big Top event,\u201d said Maslowsky. \u201cI wanted it to be entertaining and I wanted people to come to an event where they could see it through the eyes of kids. And we\u2019ve all grown up with the circus \u2026 we can relate to it. It was important to then get talent, not just dancers and speakers.\u201d The event was held May 9.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his younger days, Maslowsky said, \u201cMy sister and I, we\u2019ve always been teased as \u2018the Jewish Donny and Marie.\u2019 My sister does a lot of performing in the city and we did Folklorama [multicultural festival] for many, many years (at Shalom Square, the Israeli pavilion).\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cGrowing up in a Jewish family, knowing how to give and that you\u2019re not always the best, that you just do what you can, you just be sure that you\u2019re a giving person, that was certainly instilled into us by our parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jerry Maslowsky, executive director of Variety, the Children\u2019s Charity of Manitoba. (photo from Jerry Maslowsky) Jerry Maslowsky, executive director of Variety, the Children\u2019s Charity of Manitoba, has a long history with the organization. Maslowsky, 57, started off in performing arts as a teenager, in Rainbow Stage productions. Coming from a musical family, the stage was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4024,4026,4025,4023],"class_list":["post-13427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-childrens-charity","tag-gene-telpner","tag-jerry-maslowsky","tag-variety-manitoba"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}