{"id":15578,"date":"2015-11-06T00:19:15","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T08:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=15578"},"modified":"2015-11-04T13:34:45","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T21:34:45","slug":"community-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/11\/06\/community-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Community campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil Pollock, chair of the Jewish Federation annual campaign. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s just under one month left to contribute to the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual campaign, which supports dozens of local community organizations, as well as partner agencies in Israel and overseas. The Jewish Independent<\/em> spoke to this year\u2019s campaign chair Neil Pollock via email about his reasons for being involved, and the importance of the campaign to the community.<\/p>\n

JI<\/strong>: You\u2019ve taken over the general chair position from Harvey Dales. I know you\u2019ve done so much community work, but did he offer you any advice specific to the campaign that you could share?<\/p>\n

NP<\/strong>: Harvey is a good friend, and working as his wingman for a few years before succeeding him as campaign chair was a tremendous learning experience for me. Harvey is, as we all know, a terrific leader and great asset to this community. In fact, if I recall correctly, it was at one of his last meetings as chair that Harvey inspired the concept for our new face-to-face incentive, which has been so well supported by donors and canvassers.<\/p>\n

This year, every time a donor meets with their canvasser in person, an additional $500 will be donated to the campaign. It\u2019s an important way we\u2019re engaging in genuine conversations about our community and its needs, as well as donors\u2019 values and interests. It\u2019s also a key way in which we\u2019re growing the campaign. If anyone reading this wants to meet face to face, but doesn\u2019t have a canvasser, just contact the Federation office and they\u2019ll set it up for you.<\/p>\n

JI<\/strong>: What motivated you to take on the position of general chair?<\/p>\n

NP<\/strong>: I thought I might be able to help out the community a little, and I was honored to be asked to serve. My wife, Michelle, and I have made a very conscious effort to live and practise our Jewish values \u2013 especially tikkun olam, chesed and tzedakah. We do this through our volunteer work in the community, and in our home with our children. It\u2019s made our kids more aware of the responsibility we all share in building a better, stronger community, and of all of us being responsible for each other.<\/p>\n

JI<\/strong>: The campaign theme is \u201cSecuring Our Future.\u201d What does that mean to you in terms of the Jewish community?<\/p>\n

NP<\/strong>: The theme has a few meanings. In one sense, it\u2019s about community continuity and engaging the next generation \u2013 two of the priority areas for our work. We need to continue to fund young adult programming through Hillel and Axis. We also need to support innovative new Jewish education programs that will reach the more than 850 children in underserved areas who aren\u2019t currently receiving any Jewish education. We live in this incredible city, but the cost of living is so high that many people are struggling with how they can stay connected Jewishly. Nearly half of community members are living outside the city of Vancouver, and funding new programs that reach them where they live is critical to their community involvement.<\/p>\n

In a very literal sense, it\u2019s about making sure everyone in our community feels safe. Our Federation has been very proactive in terms of security, conducting a community-wide training program and providing grants for security upgrades, but security is an ongoing need in our community. We need to increase funding for our community institutions so they remain safe, and ensure emergency preparedness.<\/p>\n

What some people might not realize is that, every year, Jewish Federation receives more requests for support than there is funding available. On top of that, there are critical programs and services that need more funding than they currently receive. If we want to secure our community\u2019s future, we need to close these gaps while at the same time addressing the issues of affordability and accessibility.<\/p>\n

JI<\/strong>: Are there any special projects\/ causes that the campaign is hoping to fund?<\/p>\n

NP<\/strong>: We\u2019re seeing a real shift in our community that\u2019s creating issues of affordability and accessibility. More and more families are moving to underserved communities outside of the city of Vancouver. It\u2019s just too expensive for them here. When they move, they become beyond the reach of most of our community institutions. We need to find new ways to make community accessible for them. For many of those who live close to the centre of Jewish community life, the cost of doing so is creating other barriers, notably affordability. The high cost of living here has a direct impact on the ability of regular families to engage in Jewish life. These are the issues Federation is addressing through the campaign and in coordination with its partner agencies.<\/p>\n

JI<\/strong>: What is the campaign goal this year?<\/p>\n

NP<\/strong>: Last year, we reached a record result of $8 million \u2013 and we are determined to surpass that. As community needs continue to grow and evolve, so must our response, so must the campaign.<\/p>\n

JI<\/strong>: Until when does the campaign run?<\/p>\n

NP<\/strong>: The campaign runs from September through to the end of November, which is very short, compared to other communities. One of the reasons we\u2019re able to raise funds in such a condensed period is the incredible work of our canvassers. Supporting them in their work is something I\u2019m passionate about, and we\u2019re putting special emphasis on that this year. We\u2019ve worked with a group of generous supporters to develop a new incentive: for every new canvasser who joins our team, an extra $1,000 will be donated to the campaign. Twice the mitzvah!<\/p>\n

For more information and to donate, visit jewishvancouver.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Pollock, chair of the Jewish Federation annual campaign. (photo from Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver) There\u2019s just under one month left to contribute to the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual campaign, which supports dozens of local community organizations, as well as partner agencies in Israel and overseas. The Jewish Independent spoke to this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2858,4352,238],"class_list":["post-15578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-campaign","tag-jewish-federation-of-greater-vancouver","tag-neil-pollock"],"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\/15578","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=15578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}