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Having arrived yesterday in Israel for our annual Coast to Coast partnership meetings here, you won’t be surprised to hear that journeys are on my mind. Whether it’s flying thousands of miles to the other side of the world, or working to raise another record result for our community, I’m sure you know the saying that it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. I have to be honest, when it comes to the campaign it is about the destination and the good that comes from the funds that are raised, but what happens along the way is equally important. It’s the journey that I want to share with you this Shabbat.

As our community has been talking about big issues locally, in Israel and around the world, a series of important one on one conversations have been taking place. Hundreds of them, in fact. Our volunteer canvassers have had 445 face to face conversations with donors over the past few months – more than double last year - which when you think about it is absolutely remarkable. One canvasser has even completed a whopping 18 face to face meetings with donors this fall. She jokes that you may have seen her a few times at Starbucks! But it’s no joke – think about the kind of commitment it takes for our amazing canvassers to do this. People are leaving their desks and their homes to get to wherever their donors are. They’re saying, tell me where and when, and I’ll be there. It is incredibly special for a community to have so many members committed to this work. These volunteers and the donors they’re meeting with are taking time out of their very busy lives to have a meaningful conversation about community needs.

Why do we need hundreds of these face to face meetings? Because, at the heart of it, these conversations are about helping people in need and building a better community for all of us – and that speaks directly to the core of our work as a Federation, and to who we are as individuals and as a People.

One of our young adult canvassers talked with three of her friends about our work over dinner, and found that they were surprised at how many touch points in their own lives have a Federation connection. These women in their 20s and 30s went to Jewish day school, Jewish summer camp, were active in Hillel, and these days attend events with our young adult group, Axis, but they had never before made gifts. Not only did they not know the reach of the campaign, but they didn’t realize that the campaign had even touched their own lives. “We talked about what making a gift would mean to their day to day lives. Does it mean skipping the occasional dinner out? Are they willing to do that?” their canvasser said. All three made first-time gifts that night, along with 22 other new young adult donors so far this year.

These conversations really do make a difference, and that’s why a group of our generous donors came together to support the face to face incentive, so that every time a donor and a canvasser take the time to meet an extra $500 will be donated to the campaign.

Why is it that canvassers are so important? Asking community members to contribute to the greater good goes all the way back to the building of the Mishkan, when G-d directs Moshe to “take for Me a gift from every person whose heart moves him to give.” I've written about that before. The work of our canvassers is the holy work of our community, and it is as much about accomplishing the job of acquiring the resources for the future as it is about honouring our history. It is a ritual that connects us and that reminds us about the importance of community.

If you have not yet had a conversation with your canvasser, now is the time. The campaign is coming to a close, and this is your opportunity to be a part of both the journey and the destination of an even stronger and more vibrant community that we are all working toward.

Shabbat shalom,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver