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Tag: David Greaves

JNF Negev Event raises funds for health centre

JNF Negev Event raises funds for health centre

An artist’s rendering of the new Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre for which the 2025 Negev Event is raising funds. (photo from jnf.ca/PacificNegev2025)

Hosted by Jewish National Fund of Canada Pacific Region and Israel Magen Fund of Canada, the June 19 Negev Event in Vancouver will feature rescued hostage and speaker Noa Argamani, Australian actor and advocate for Israel Nate Buzz, and editor-in-chief of the National Post Rob Roberts. Funds raised will help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, providing increased levels of care for trauma victims, children with disabilities and children with cancer. 

As the name indicates, the new centre will be located in Ashdod, which is about 50 kilometres north of the border with Gaza. With almost 250,000 residents, it is Israel’s sixth largest city. “It is home to the largest Moroccan and Karaite Jewish communities in Israel, and the largest Georgian Jewish population in the world,” notes the JNF.

However, there is a shortage of rehabilitation services in southern Israel, a shortage that has worsened since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and the ensuing war. 

photo - The June 19 Negev Event raises funds to help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, thereby increasing levels of care for trauma victims
The June 19 Negev Event raises funds to help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, thereby increasing levels of care for trauma victims, children with disabilities and children with cancer. (photos from jnf.ca/PacificNegev2025)

“Thirty percent of wounded patients and most of the war victims are residents of the south,” according to JNF. “Fourteen thousand residents were treated in hospitals following Oct. 7, with 42% coming with injured limbs and 35% seeking support with emotional trauma. The system cannot support the hundreds of thousands of children, adolescents and adults who were physically injured and emotionally crushed by horrific traumas that left deep scars.”

There are only 11 rehabilitation centres in Israel’s periphery communities, while central Israel has 43, says JNF. “Currently, wait times for rehabilitation in the south are at least one year…. Southern residents, including recovering patients and children, must travel about an hour-and-a-half to Israel’s centre for care.” 

photo - The June 19 Negev Event raises funds to help build the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, thereby increasing levels of care for children with cancer
(photo from jnf.ca/PacificNegev2025)

Among the services the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre will expand upon is the range of care and support that Rachashei Lev, which was established in 1989, provides in other medical centres. (Rachashei Lev roughly translates as Whispers of the Heart, or Heart of Compassion.)

“I visited Rachashei Lev in July [last year] as part of JNF’s resilience task force, a group consisting of professional leaders and lay leadership from across Canada,” David Greaves, executive director of JNF Manitoba/Saskatchewan and Vancouver/Pacific region, told the Independent. “I was there with Harvey Dales and we were all touched by what this organization did. As well, while touring the facility, we were surprised when Noa Argamani joined us and shared her story and how much support she and her family received from Rachashei Lev after her rescue and repatriation. This is, of course, why we chose this particular project, as Noa will be one of our special guests on June 19.” (Argamani was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2025.) 

Greaves will be here for the event, working out of the Vancouver office with the local JNF team and Megan Laskin, the event chair. He took on the additional role of Vancouver/Pacific region head after Michael Sachs left the position to become the director for Western Canada of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

“My first official meeting with the board was mid-December,” said Greaves. “They were so welcoming, I felt like I had been here for months.”

Greaves gave the JI an update on the Canada Revenue Agency’s revocation of JNF Canada’s charitable status.

“We have two pending court dates,” he said. “We have a judicial review scheduled for May 28 [after the JI went to press]. We are calling on the court to overturn our revocation, as we had a commitment from the CRA that our revocation would not be published, which finalizes the revocation process, until we exhausted our legal options. We assert that a pillar of Canadian justice is the presumption of innocence, so taking action to revoke us before the opportunity to appeal to the courts is fundamentally unjust. Our underlying appeal, which will focus on the merits of our case, does not yet have a date set. We have called upon the CRA to settle this matter before we litigate, as this is a waste of time and resources for both the taxpayer and JNF. Disappointingly, the CRA has rejected our offer to settle.”

JNF Canada is partnering with the charity Israel Magen Fund of Canada (IMFoC) for all the Negev events across the country. 

“We are sharing the responsibilities in executing these campaigns and galas,” Greaves said. “Both organizations have signed agreements outlining the nature of the collaboration. The IMFoC has an agency agreement with the two organizations in Israel at which these projects will be realized, the Parenthood Home in Sderot and the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre. We have the same passion for Zionism and supporting vulnerable Israelis from all walks of life, so it was sensible to work together as, through this collaboration, we can achieve more.”

Intergenerational support

JNF Pacific board president Shannon Gorski is excited about the Rachashei Lev project. She knows firsthand the impact that JNF initiatives can have.

“In 2017, our family supported the Tzofei Tzamid (Israeli Scouts) centre in Ra’anana,” she said. “The project raised money to remodel the centre to ensure that it was inclusive to all the scouts who participated. This meant providing resources and equipment that made it possible for all teens to be able to participate in the outdoor excursions regardless of physical or mental limitations.”

She visited the centre that same year and saw how the money raised here positively affected the participants in Israel. “It was quite emotional,” she said.

Gorski is in her third year as board president; she was vice-president from 2019 to 2023.

“I began my service on the JNF board in 2017,” she said, “following the 2017 Negev, in which my father [Gary Averbach] was honoured with the support of my brother, Michael [Averbach], and me.”

It truly has been a lifelong endeavour for Gorski.

“My father was JNF president from 1991 to 1992, and I remember many occasions that I spent time at the home of the residing shaliach’s [emissary’s] residence,” said Gorski. “Of course, our home always had a JNF box, which I believe I took trick or treating with me in place of the UNICEF box. Purchasing trees to forest Israel became a gift that I either gave or received to commemorate many Jewish milestones.”

Board vice-president Howard Jampolsky also grew up with JNF.

“As a child,” he said, “I first became involved in JNF raising money for trees and driving around with my uncle, John Eskin, z”l, picking up blue boxes in the 1970s. Uncle Johnny was a tireless worker for JNF and was honoured in 1976 with a Negev Dinner. 

“My father, Abe Jampolsky, z”l, was also involved in JNF as a regional president. He, too, was honoured by JNF in 1987 with a Negev Dinner, during which the guest speaker was Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu, who, at the time, was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.”

In 2015, then-executive director of JNF’s regional office, Ilan Pilo, asked Jampolsky to join the executive committee of the local board, and he has been involved ever since, becoming vice-president in 2023. Jampolsky has been on the JNF national board since 2022.

For Jampolsky, helping fund projects like the Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre is what we, as Jews, do.

“We value life, and part of valuing life is to ensure that each life is fulfilled in every possible way,” he said. “On Oct. 7, 2023, that fulfillment for thousands of Israelis was dashed when Hamas attacked us. I say ‘us’ because when one of our people is attacked, we are all attacked.

“This centre provides life-saving health care for young cancer victims, but it also provides vital health care for many who were impacted by the terrible events of Oct. 7. Both those with physical injuries and emotional trauma will benefit from this important place.”

For tickets to the June 19 Negev Event in Vancouver, go to imfoc.org/pacific-negev.

Format ImagePosted on May 30, 2025May 29, 2025Author Cynthia RamsayCategories LocalTags Ashdod Rehabilitation and Therapy Centre, David Greaves, fundraising, health care, Howard Jampolsky, Israel Magen Fund of Canada, Jewish National Fund of Canada, JNF, Negev event, Rachashei Lev, rehabilitation, Shannon Gorski
Working to get to Olympics

Working to get to Olympics

Joel Seligstein is one of four Israeli skeleton athletes aiming for the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (photo by Erin Murphy)

What began as a dream 15 years ago – when David Greaves helped establish an Israeli presence in the bobsled and skeleton world – finally received the approval, recognition and support of the Israeli Olympic Committee this past December.

Greaves was a member of the Israeli bobsled team that fell short of qualifying for the Olympics in 2006, although they did compete in two world championships.

“When I retired from the sport,

I felt I wanted to continue in some capacity,” Greaves told the Independent in an interview earlier this year. “So, I took over as head of the federation, of which I’m now the president. It’s called Bobsled Skeleton Israel, which is the Israeli bobsled skeleton federation.

“I wanted to stay involved in the sport and to try to provide an opportunity for other Jewish athletes to experience something of what I did – the pride of wearing the Magen David on your jacket and competing for Israel internationally.”

The experience changed the trajectory of Greaves’ life – he was working in the sales and high-tech industry. It also made him realize what was important for him as a Jew and an Israeli.

“I came back from that experience deciding I wanted to leave the world of high-tech and focus my efforts on Jewish community and working for Israel,” he said. “That led me to volunteering for the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. This soon led to me working on a contract basis for them, which turned into a full-time role. I became a fundraiser for the Jewish community.”

Greaves spent 10 years fundraising for Winnipeg’s federation and then for the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, before starting his own business in 2014. Called Protexia, it helps nonprofits and charitable organizations fundraise.

With the refocus in his professional life also came a refocus in his involvement with Bobsled Skeleton Israel. As the organization’s volunteer president, he is in regular contact with the Israeli Olympic Committee as they gear up for the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018.

“The challenge was finding an athlete interested, sometimes from another program … the American program, whatever it happened to be. Some of the bigger programs are so deep, you can be a great athlete … but may not have an opportunity to make the big leagues and would likely not ever get the opportunity that they have now … to compete at the highest level, for a smaller nation,” said Greaves. “But now, I have four athletes competing at different levels around the world … and that’s more than most small nations have.”

While many people compete for Israel from around the world, most are not directly connected to the Israeli Olympic Committee, but, with the completion of the process in December, Bobsled Skeleton Israel is now an official Olympic sport under its umbrella. Last September, the committee had accepted Greaves’ recommendation to recognize the criteria established by the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation as the Israeli criteria.

“It was almost anticlimactic,” said Greaves. “I was working on this for 13 years and I’d never had the opportunity to present to the Israeli Olympic Committee before, with the opportunity of them possibly accepting our recommendation. Needless to say, I was over the moon and ecstatic.

“So, now, I feel confident talking about our future, because the only step left for us to be competing at the Olympics is for one of my athletes to qualify. If we have an athlete that qualifies, then we’ll be going to Korea for the Games, as he will have met the criteria.”

To get to the Olympics, the athletes will need to be in the top 60 internationally. For the current season, the goal is to get two athletes into the top 75 world ranking, which would position them for next year. They currently only have one.

All of the Israeli athletes in the federation are competing on their own in skeleton.

“It’s been easier for us to find skeleton athletes from a budgetary standpoint, because we don’t fund our athletes,” said Greaves. “We’d love to have a bobsled team, too, but it’s a bit more work for us to really develop that program. Given I’ve got a full-time day job and we don’t at the moment have any prospects for bobsled athletes, our efforts have solely focused on developing our skeleton program.”

Israeli skeleton athlete Bradley Chalupski in action
Israeli skeleton athlete Bradley Chalupski in action. (photo from Bradley Chalupski)

Bobsled Skeleton Israel is a nonprofit in the United States, enabling them to fundraise there for their athletes. These athletes can fundraise within their circles and the organization can provide a tax receipt to donors.

“We’ve been pretty successful in the last few years in raising more money than we have in the past,” said Greaves. “It’s been allocated out to the athletes based on need. Essentially, they get reimbursed, in very small part, for their costs. If we have $5,000 or $10,000 in the bank, so to speak, and an athlete has just come back from a week of training, then they can submit a portion of their expenses. But, it’s very modest.

“We’re looking to have a fundraiser this spring in Winnipeg. There’s also now – because we’re now officially a member within the Olympic movement in Israel – the possibility for funding from the state if an athlete qualifies for funding.”

In that case, the athlete will be eligible for a few Israeli shekels a month. Even so, about 95% of the money spent in this sport by Israeli athletes is money that they themselves have raised, either through their own personal supporters or their own savings. According to Greaves, his athletes have given up the last two or three years of their lives to compete and train.

Contributions are deductible in Israel and the United States, and there is an Indiegogo campaign currently underway. Greaves is in discussion with a few Jewish organizations with the hope that they may be able to assist in accepting Canadian donations.

“We want people to understand we’re in this because of a love for Israel and a love for sport,” he said. “Our ultimate dream is to walk into the Olympic stadium with the Israeli flag. There’s such a pride that’s hard to convey. We do this out of a sense of pride and love for Israel.

“I once was asked in an interview years ago, when I was competing, if I had a choice to compete for Canada or for Israel, who would I pick? I’m a dual citizen. I said, without a doubt, I’d want to do it for Israel. There’s a special connection between my Jewishness, my connection to Israel and my Zionism. The other guys on my team feel the same way as well. Am Yisrael might make this a different experience than other athletes might have … not to take away from how amazing it would be for any athlete to represent their country.”

For more information and to follow the athletes – Bradley Chalupski, Adam (A.J.) Edelman, Joel Seligstein and Larry Sidney – visit facebook.com/israelibobsledandskeletonfederation. To contact Greaves, email [email protected].

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

 

Format ImagePosted on March 31, 2017March 31, 2017Author Rebeca KuropatwaCategories WorldTags David Greaves, Israel, Olympics, skeleton, sports
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