The record $8.5 million generated through the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual campaign will support programs and services on which thousands of Jewish community members rely, and includes $300,000 for community security initiatives. This campaign result is unprecedented and will provide more financial resources to address community needs than ever before.
“I would like to thank everyone who made a gift to the campaign. This record $8.5 million result ensures that our partner agencies can continue to provide critical programs and services, and is already funding important community security initiatives,” said Alex Cristall, campaign chair.
Funds from the campaign support social services, Jewish education, community-building, seniors services, youth services, and arts and cultural programs in the local Jewish community. Funds also support social services and programs for at-risk youth in Federation’s partnership region in northern Israel, and help Jewish communities in need around the world.
“We have a number of challenges ahead of us as a community,” said Stephen Gaerber, board chair, “including the dual issues of affordability and accessibility, engaging young adults and young families, addressing the needs of our growing seniors population and developing programs for the nearly half of our community who now live in underserved regional communities. The record result will help Jewish Federation and our partner agencies address these challenges.”
Over the past year, Federation has become increasingly aware of and concerned about the changing security landscape, and identified community security as one of five areas of opportunity in its 2020 Strategic Priorities.
“We listened to the concerns about community security expressed by our partner agencies, our donors and community members. We responded by making community security a central focus of the campaign and developed a matching gift program funded by a group of generous donors. This helped fuel the record result and enabled us to invest strategically in an issue that is front and centre in our community,” said Cristall.
The $300,000 raised is already at work addressing security needs faced by some high-traffic local Jewish organizations, including security guards and specialized security assessments, as well as additional security for several high-profile community events.
“Jewish Federation has taken the lead on community security for years, and our proactive approach was recently commended by Chief [Constable Adam] Palmer of the Vancouver Police department,” said Gaerber. “Given the threats received recently by our JCC, the fact that we were out in front of this takes on added significance. Every donor to the campaign can be very proud of having played a role in addressing this important issue while supporting the full depth and breadth of community needs at the same time. The record $8.5 million raised is a real testament to how we all care for our community.”