{"id":37609,"date":"2021-10-22T01:59:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T08:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=37609"},"modified":"2021-10-21T10:22:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T17:22:28","slug":"choices-women-inspire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/10\/22\/choices-women-inspire\/","title":{"rendered":"Choices\u2019 women inspire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jill Zarin is the keynote speaker at Choices on Nov. 7. (photo from Twitter)<\/em><\/p>\n

Philanthropist and entrepreneur Jill Zarin \u2013 most recognized for having been on the reality TV show The Real Housewives of New York City<\/em> \u2013 is the featured guest at this year\u2019s Choices, which will be held virtually on Nov. 7.<\/p>\n

Zarin is also the author \u2013 together with her mother, Gloria Kamen, and sister, Lisa Wexler \u2013 of Secrets of a Jewish Mother<\/em>, a 2010 book full of recipes, advice and parenting tips. She will join Vancouver-area speakers to talk about how they were able to support community during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s Choices is the largest women\u2019s event within the community. This is the 17th annual gathering and the Independent<\/em> interviewed 2021 co-chairs Sherri Wise, Leanne Hazon and Courtney Cohen by email about what to expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cJill Zarin is an amazing speaker!\u201d they said. \u201cAttendees will also hear from so many inspiring women in our own community who give of themselves to keep our community strong and connected.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Jill Zarin is most well known for being a television personality, she is in fact an extremely philanthropic person,\u201d they added. \u201cAfter almost two years of COVID, the committee wanted to have a program filled with humour and uplifting stories and Jill was a perfect match.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs co-chairs, we have always found we learn something from the women who speak, which inspires us to continue supporting our wonderful community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandemic has impacted everyone around the world in many ways, said the co-chairs, and so many people have stepped up to try to help their communities navigate this very challenging time. Zarin is but one of the many \u201cwho have pitched in their time and tzedakah and ideas to help our Jewish community stay strong,\u201d said the Choices co-chairs.<\/p>\n

Ideally, the organizers had wanted to be together in person for Choices 2021. Yet with the uncertainties and changing regulations around COVID, they have once again decided to hold the event virtually, while trying to provide the experience in a way that is still meaningful to people.<\/p>\n

Given the ongoing reality of the pandemic, the women said they are \u201creally happy and really lucky\u201d that Choices can be offered online. One of the benefits of a virtual event, they pointed out, is making it more accessible to women province-wide.<\/p>\n

Choices is a celebration of the impact of women\u2019s philanthropy.\u00a0 Rather than fundraising, the goal is to get more women involved in the community through giving to the campaign and volunteering. The organizers stress that there are many ways of being involved in philanthropy and making a difference, such as connecting with Jewish Federation or one of its many partner agencies.<\/p>\n

The 2021 Federation annual campaign is focusing on the theme of being strengthened by what we as a community have been through in the past year-and-a-half and inspired by where we can go together. This year, Choices is recognizing specifically how women in the community came through the pandemic and made the community stronger with their time and donations.<\/p>\n

In a non-pandemic year, Choices would have 500 people in attendance. Past speakers have included musicologist Judy Feld Carr, the Canadian responsible for bringing thousands of Jews from Syria to freedom; Talia Leman, the founder of RandomKid, an organization that empowers youth to do good deeds; Talia Levanon, the director of the Israel Trauma Coalition; and Jeannie Smith, who shared the story of her mother, Irene Gut Opdyke, who rescued Jews during the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

The Choices 2021 co-chairs lauded the efforts of Sue Hector and Shawna Merkur, the co-chairs of women\u2019s philanthropy at Federation.\u00a0 They also noted the contributions of Ricki Thal (campaign manager), Kate Webster (campaign director) and the Jewish Federation staff for their invaluable support.<\/p>\n

To attend Choices, a person must give to the Federation\u2019s annual campaign or make a donation by purchasing a ticket of the suggested amount. There is a suggested minimum donation of $154 to support the campaign and a suggested minimum donation of $36 for first-time attendees.<\/p>\n

To register for the Nov. 7, 5 p.m., event, visit jewishvancouver.com\/ choices2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sam Margolis<\/strong> has written for the <\/em>Globe and Mail, the <\/em>National Post, UPI and MSNBC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jill Zarin is the keynote speaker at Choices on Nov. 7. (photo from Twitter) Philanthropist and entrepreneur Jill Zarin \u2013 most recognized for having been on the reality TV show The Real Housewives of New York City \u2013 is the featured guest at this year\u2019s Choices, which will be held virtually on Nov. 7. Zarin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7549,9717,3233,9784,3128,3649,1872,20921,20922,2763,8486,3021],"class_list":["post-37609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-choices","tag-coronavirus","tag-courtney-cohen","tag-covid-19","tag-fundraising","tag-jewish-federation","tag-jfgv","tag-jill-zarin","tag-leanne-hazon","tag-philanthropy","tag-sherri-wise","tag-women"],"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\/37609","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=37609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}