food bank

A celebration of dance

Liat Har Lev premières a new work at the Dance Centre on April 29, as part of the centre’s celebration of International Dance Day. (photo by Chris Randle)

International Dance Day is April 29. To celebrate the occasion, the Dance Centre is presenting a day of free events, including a performance and workshop by choreographer Liat Har Lev.

Born in Ashkelon, Israel, to Ashkenazi parents from Romania, Har Lev said her parents decided to immigrate to Canada in 1982 because they wanted a safer haven for their children.

While dancing has always been a part of her life, flamenco came later.

“I remember my first jazz dance class at the age of 10,” she said. “Moving in space and creating shapes to the sound of music was natural. I felt alive and so vibrant.”

She first encountered flamenco at the Kino Café, which used to be on Cambie Street in Vancouver.

“I was mesmerized by the force, strength and intensity of the dancers and musicians,” she said. “It was a projection of who I am, an instant connection. Flamenco is a challenging art form in terms of rhythm, physicality and expression. I never stop learning and evolving. It challenges my mind and body and allows me to express deep sorrows and great joys.”

photo - Liat Har Lev — Liat Har Lev (photo by Catalina Torres)

One of the highlights in her dance journey, she said, “was the first time I stepped on stage to perform my first flamenco solo. It boosted my confidence and opened the door for opportunities.”

On the Dance Centre’s website is a profile of Har Lev. In an interview with the centre, she says, “I believe that dance performance exists to communicate and teach. It is an embodied language that has different forms, shapes and expression. As an expressive dancer, the source of the inspiration for my choreographies and performances comes from the need to express a story, to invite people to move and think deeply. My work is inspired by the human condition and personal experiences. I take pride in collaborating with local dance artists and musicians and I strive to create new works.”

The Dance Centre profile includes a video of Har Lev’s We Shall Not Forget, which she began choreographing with the support of the centre’s 12 Minutes Max program. It is a powerful commemoration, dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust.

“We Shall Not Forget was inspired by my ancestors that perished in such a horrific way,” she told the Independent. “It was a calling for me to honour and remember them; a message from them through me. This tragedy left a big scar and a lesson to humankind.”

On International Dance Day, Har Lev will première a new work, Tientos. The program description says it “explores themes of personal integrity, internal conflict and the freedom of resolution, expressed through the flamenco dance forms of tientos and tangos.”

A work-in-progress, it features live music and singing. It is a collaboration between Har Lev, who choreographed and dances the piece, singer Maria Avila, guitarist Peter Mole, drummer Matteo Bebbo Sampaolo and choreography facilitator and dramaturg Carmen Romero. The performance will be followed by a brief introduction to flamenco workshop, led by Har Lev.

At the presentation, the artists will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. So, if you’re heading downtown to see the show or attend the workshop, try and remember to bring an item to donate.

International Dance Day was started by UNESCO in 1982, with the date commemorating the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), who is considered the founder of modern ballet.

For the full local International Dance Day lineup, visit thedancecentre.ca.

The Kitchen is new JFS hub

JFS Vancouver staff member Golriz Boroomand, left, and chief executive officer Tanja Demajo. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Tucked into a neighbourhood of low-rise industrial buildings, warehouses and mixed-use developments west of Main Street and south of Olympic Village is the new locus of Jewish Family Services Vancouver. The Kitchen, which opened mid-April, is the people-friendly hub for many of the programs JFS delivers to hundreds of clients every month.

“The Kitchen is an integration of a number of services that address poverty issues,” said

Tanja Demajo, chief executive officer of JFS Vancouver, which operates the Kitchen. While some components of the Kitchen’s programs are still on hold pending the end of the pandemic, it is already a busy and social environment. Clients can come weekly to pick up supplies from the Jewish Food Bank. While there, if they want, clients can meet with a caseworker to discuss access to government supports, meet with social workers or housing advocates or access other services. Behind the reception area are three private offices for caseworkers to meet with community members.

JFS still maintains a head office on Clark Drive, where some administrative work takes place, and where services best delivered in a less-social environment – such as counseling programs and services to Holocaust survivors – are offered. But the Kitchen really is the beating heart of JFS now.

“For example, with the seniors, they often have complex needs in terms of health, in terms of managing the relationship with the landlord, with different service providers, and the social worker is pretty much a point person and coordinates all that care for the client,” Demajo said. With many British Columbians, including too many seniors, unable to find a permanent family doctor, JFS can help connect them with help and accompany them to appointments if requested, she added.

“People who don’t have a [general practitioner] come and they need a prescription,” said Demajo. “Often, they aren’t comfortable going to just a general walk-in clinic, but often that’s the way to start. In many situations, our caseworkers would also go with the client to see the doctor, if they don’t feel like they can go on their own. We often try to see if we can find someone who will take them as a [patient] and it’s the same thing with the dentist. That’s how we work with people. When people are struggling to pay some of the bills because, of course, there’s a lot of unexpected emergencies, then we support them with that.”

Poverty is not only an economic challenge, she said, but a social one, too.

“It’s important just to acknowledge that people living in poverty are also dealing with a lot of isolation,” she said. So the busy and welcoming space the Kitchen provides is serving more than one need.

While the food bank has been operated by JFS in partnership with Jewish Women International for 15 years, this is the first time the program has had a permanent, purpose-built warehouse. In the back of the building, in a high-ceilinged space, are food-laden shelves, refrigerators and sorting spaces.

A parallel program is meals for those who are not able to prepare healthy dishes themselves, either temporarily due to illness or more permanently. JFS has had a meal delivery program for some time, but it was supplied through a third party. With a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, JFS is now making their own plant-based kosher meals for delivery.

This component has allowed JFS to build relationships with farmers, which allows food bank clients the opportunity to select fresh produce.

“There are vegetables, berries, whatever is available on the farm,” said Demajo. “Customers can go to this online platform, choose what they want and pick it up from here on Thursday. The nice thing is that, again, people of different backgrounds can come here and connect with each other without knowing what their needs are.”

At the Kitchen, Tuesday is Breakfast Club.

“It’s a day for families,” Demajo said. “What they receive through the program is fresh vegetables and fruit, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, bread, peanut butter and cereals.” (There are dairy products in take-away food programs but the commercial kitchen is strictly pareve.)

Other food-related programs JFS delivers include Cooked with Chesed, through which clients can have five meals delivered every two weeks, featuring plates such as borscht, mushroom penne pasta, vegetarian Cobb salad, coconut chickpea curry and spaghetti and “meat” balls. Also available at the Kitchen are food vouchers that allow people to do their own shopping.

While pandemic restrictions have kept a damper on some of the social aspects, Demajo looks forward to a post-COVID world where the place will be hopping even more than it is now.

“This will hopefully become really a community hub,” she said. “Our hope was really to have a dedicated space for the community that JFS serves because one of the things that we recognized over the years is that JFS clients do not have space for gathering. They could come to different spaces, but they didn’t have their own dedicated space.”

This, she said, is why the Kitchen has a host of homey touches – artwork, photo displays, a play area for kids, a small library and, adjacent the kitchen itself, a café-like space where communal meals will occur when safe to do so.

The combined food programs serve more than 1,600 people. The food bank itself serves about 950 people.

“These numbers are constantly changing because some people stay with us for a long time, some people use the supports temporarily,” said Demajo.

Funding for the programs comes from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, private donors, and some federal and provincial government funding.

“When it comes to food, we’re also trying to build more partnerships and relationships where there is more in-kind food as well,” Demajo said.

Because they have a dedicated food storage space, including plenty of refrigerated shelves, the agency can now take in more perishable items than they could have accepted in the past. That means more fresh and healthy food for clients.

JFS has relationships with four farms – in Langley, Richmond, Pemberton and Chilliwack – that provide seasonal specialties.

“There are a lot of educational opportunities,” Demajo noted. “They have some animals there and provide not just food … so the plan is that down the road we also do some different programming with them as well.”

Donations welcome all year

During the seven weeks of the counting of the Omer to Shavuot, Temple Sholom’s religious school students bring donations of cereal for the Jewish Food Bank. (photo from Sara Ciacci)

For a number of years, during the seven weeks of the counting of the Omer to Shavuot, Temple Sholom’s religious school students have brought donations of cereal for the Jewish Food Bank. The young students are proud and excited to share with those in need and their parents and teachers help instil in them the meaning of tzedakah.

Although everyone agrees that the food of choice for Shavuot is cheese, and especially cheesecake, there are differences of opinion (some quite charming) as to why it is a custom. One explanation is that, at Sinai, the Israelites were considered to be as innocent as newborns, whose food is milk. Others connect the practice directly to scripture, saying we eat dairy to symbolize the “land flowing with milk and honey” promised to the Israelites.

Today, for more than 400 Jewish members of the Metro Vancouver community, Shavuot is not a day spent recalling a land flowing with milk and honey. Rather, Shavuot is a day like any other. A day when their below-the-poverty-line means do not allow them to celebrate with even a few of the traditional food items. Having been a recipient of help myself from the Jewish community as a child during the Depression years has influenced my lifelong understanding of how much of a difference it makes to the well-being of an individual to be able to mark the Jewish holidays, and to not worry for at least one day how they will sustain themselves (and their family).

Religious school is out for the summer and Shavuot has passed. However, the need to share with those less fortunate does not take a holiday. Your sharing and caring is needed throughout the year. Food donations can be dropped off at Temple Sholom, other synagogues and the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Donations earmarked for the Jewish Food Bank can be mailed to Temple Sholom at 7190 Oak St., Vancouver, B.C., V6P 3Z9.

Sara Ciacci is past president and longtime member of Temple Sholom Sisterhood board. She has been involved with the Jewish Food Bank since its inception and is the recipient of the Jewish Family Service Agency’s 2015 Paula Lenga Award.

An update from Aleph

Among other activities, Aleph in the Tri-Cities Israeli culture club is getting ready for Passover. (photo from facebook.com)

Looking back at 2015, Aleph in the Tri-Cities Society reports that last year’s food bank donations amounted to approximately 2,000 kilograms (more than two tons) of food items for the SHARE Family and Community Services Society and other missions around the Lower Mainland.

For Purim this year, Aleph cooked and delivered mishloach manot directly to the homeless. Community members prepared 100 trays with pasta, rice, beans, tacos and organic orange juice and distributed the food at the corner of Main and Hastings streets.

“We care. We do. Community connections” is Aleph’s slogan. The nonprofit has been helping the larger community and its neighbors since 2010. It operates as an Israeli-Canadian culture club, welcoming more than 120 young families, including many newcomers and other local Jewish families mixed with Canadian friends, all celebrating life through Israeli culture.

Aleph programs include marking the Jewish holidays and educational programs, such as Hebrew lessons, computer classes, nature walks for families, as well as providing donations to the food bank, networking and supporting each other.

The society is self-supported, relying on volunteers and donations to sustain itself. The community is preparing for Passover and will be holding a seder on April 22, 6 p.m. Anyone interested in becoming involved in the seder and other activities can do so through Aleph’s Facebook page.

Are food banks here to stay?

In March 2013, 833,098 persons were served by food banks in Canada. Food bank use remains high and many Canadians depend on food banks for weekly, semi-monthly or monthly grocery items in order to put food on the table. One-half of the families being served include children and close to one-half are two-parent families. More than one-third of food bank recipients are children, many of whom are school age and go to bed hungry.

In Richmond, 1,300 persons are served each week by the Richmond Food Bank. Of the 1,300 recipients, there are 524 persons who actually attend this food bank and they represent 2.4 persons per household. The majority are seniors and people with mental health issues. These groups usually visit each week. Others who use the food bank are on low incomes and use the service as needed. Users must be Richmond residents. Once residency is proven, recipients are granted food packages on an honor system. The average value of a food hamper is about $100 and the food bank tries to ensure the five basic food groups are included.

The Jewish Food Bank in Vancouver serves 350 persons, of whom 55 are children under 18 years of age, and 95 are seniors. If, as it is estimated, 16% of the Jewish community lives on or below the poverty level, it is possible that many in need are not being served or are being served by other organizations. The value of each Jewish Food Bank hamper for a single individual, for example, is $54. Larger family units receive more food. This is in addition to food vouchers supplied by Jewish Family Service Agency. Food that is made available is seen as “supplementary,” enough to fill the gap until the next pay cheque or income. Food hampers are delivered every two weeks to those unable to attend for personal pick up.

For seniors, this is a very troubling scenario. As of two years ago, three out of five women in Greater Vancouver over 65 lived on an income of less than $25,000 per year (as reported by United Way). Many seniors on low, fixed incomes must make major decisions each month. Once rent is paid, are there enough funds for food or do they have to choose between prescription drugs (if not covered by a drug program) and food? Will there be funds for sundries, clothing and entertainment? Will there be enough money to eat out once or twice during the month? Most of us who live in the comfort of our warm homes take this for granted. For a good description of the need for affordable housing, see David Hume’s excellent article in the Nov. 23 Province.

It is generally accepted that food banks had their origins in the early 1980s during a major recession. Hunger was affecting the lives of many Canadians who were unemployed, unable to work, under-employed or whose incomes were below a living wage. It was to be a short-lived situation until the economy improved, as it eventually did, and the need for food banks diminished. However, today, food banks are an integral part of the social fabric. There are currently about 500 food banks across Canada, a sad commentary for a rich nation. In this writer’s opinion, food banks have become secondary extensions of weakened social safety nets. In this respect, food banks may be seen as undermining the state’s obligation to respect and fulfil its requirement to ensure that none of its citizens go hungry. Food banks are driven by poverty but in no way solve the problem of poverty. If anything, the goodwill they provide allows governments to opt out of taking their leadership role in decreasing the need for food banks.

Those persons who staff and volunteer at food banks are not “do-gooders looking for recognition.” Volunteers are the backbone of most not-for-profit organizations. The volunteers that I met while observing one food bank in action were made up mostly of senior citizens who were giving back to the community, who understood the plight of those being served and who served them with respect and genuine caring. Thousands of individual donors, many anonymous, provide millions of dollars each year in support. Many corporations take great pride in supporting food banks, in kind and in cash. They often make the public aware through advertising, hoping what they do will encourage other corporations to do the same.

Food banks will be needed for some time in the future until governments at all levels – federal, provincial and municipal – develop, embrace and put in place a viable national anti-poverty program. Food banks can collectively lobby for stronger and sustainable social safety nets for those in need. In a recent publication, Dignity for All: A National Anti-Poverty Plan for Canada (2013), a number of priorities were considered: income security, housing and homelessness, health, food security, early childhood education and care, jobs and employment. If two or three of these were prioritized and put into operation, it would bring many thousands into mainstream Canada.

Much has already been studied and written about poverty and its effects on too many Canadian citizens. It is time for a concerted and coordinated plan of action. Until that happens, thank G-d for food banks.

Ken Levitt is a vice-president of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver and a former chief executive officer of Louis Brier Home and Hospital.