Dear Friends,
I am beyond words. Which, if you know me, tells you something.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been hearing from nonprofits in the area and synagogue presidents around the country that they are canceling their fundraisers. People are looking at their budgets and wringing their hands, knowing they can’t raise money through the types of events they usually host. At JCOGS, we cut the dollar goal for our fundraiser in half, and then asked the finance committee if they could figure something out. A placeholder for our usual summer fundraiser.
Well, if you logged on last night, you know they sure figured something out. The comedy event was hilarious, a mixture of professional, local, and our own homegrown talent. And the auction? When they couldn’t ask businesses to donate items, the committee asked our community to donate their talents. The items were an amazing array of our collective gifts, and I had several conversations over the course of the week that started with, “How much do you think I have to bid to get…?”
So, here’s the part you’re waiting for. We hit our new, reduced fundraising goal. In fact, we hit the old, original goal. We exceeded that goal. Through the tireless efforts of the fundraiser committee, we raised $12,068 towards our JCOGS annual fund.
Here are the names of the people who did this remarkable work:
- Committee chair: Sandy Manning
- Auction magicians: Debby Sherman, Ellen Gibs, Debbie Steinerman
- Committee members: Amy Wenger, Amy Murphy, Sarah Ellner
If you know these women, please reach out to them and thank them. They showed that it can be done. That we can come together in remarkable ways, can elevate the spirit of community, and will not let a thing like a global pandemic stop our connection with each other. Thank you, all of you.
On another note, I want to let everyone know that I’ve asked our staff to prioritize getting on vacation this summer. They have worked extremely hard through the spring, and chances are that getting away in the winter will prove difficult. This may mean that we cannot exercise our usual care in making sure there is seamless coverage, as people may need to overlap vacation time when their families are able to take time off. I ask you to be patient if some things take more time. Our staff absolutely needs to rest and recharge for the coming months.
All the best,
Emily
