This is a bittersweet email to write. As you now know, Emily Rosenbaum, who has been serving our community as president for two and a half years, will be stepping down in the coming months to make way for new leadership. Emily has been a formidable leader. She has led the creation of our JCOGS communications, including a new website, strong social media presence, and our stunning bulletin. Our community has gone through a strategic plan under her guidance and worked diligently on those priorities at the board and committee level. Systems such as staff and board processes have been tightened up. She has also bravely helped our community respond in moments of antisemitic acts. And there have been the countless calls she has made and soups dropped off to vulnerable or grieving members. To name but a few of the ways she has impacted our community.
As a parting gift, her family has made a significant end of year gift to inspire others to give in turn. Hers is a model of active leadership on all levels. I hope you will join me in making a meaningful contribution in her honour.
In addition to all she has done for JCOGS, Emily also recently received a tremendous acknowledgement of her work out in the community. She was named community partner of the year by Capstone Community Action, an enormous honour thanks to her work (on behalf of JCOGS) with the Lamoille Area Health & Human Services Response Command Center.
In the words of Capstone’s Greg Stefanki: “Emily has donated countless hours researching and identifying the key pieces of information our community needed to know about food, housing, employment, medical issues and mental health and substance misuse...making sure that information was being shared with the whole community. Emily has taken the lead in raising funds for phones with hotspots to give to families who had no access to school for their children and is playing a key role in raising funds to support long-term, systemic changes. Emily Rosenbaum is the definition of a good neighbor. She is a Lamoille Rock Star!”
We still have her as our JCOGS president for a couple more months, but what better way to show our gratitude for her work within JCOGS and the wider community than an end of year gift. Let’s show her some love, and in turn, build a brighter future for JCOGS.
Shabbat Shalom. Tihiyu bri’im, stay safe, be well,
