2012–13 Highlights

Campaign Opening Event with Elie Wiesel

Our 2012 Annual Campaign kicked off with an extraordinary conversation with Elie Wiesel. Almost 2,700 community members joined together in one of our biggest events ever for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear Wiesel’s message of hope and inspiration in person and as a community.

Youth-at-Risk Report

This past year, the Federation Planning Council focused on developing a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to address issues related to youth-at-risk. As part of this process, a survey was conducted with over 185 youth and 30 service providers. The survey findings have contributed to the final report, which is guiding our further development of services to youth. Read the committee’s report here.

Young Adults

Our manager of young adult initiatives engaged young adults from our community to help shape programming for their demographic. The newly formed steering committee worked with Jewish Federation’s marketing department, volunteer leadership and content experts to develop a new brand that reflects their position as a hub of initiatives for Jews in their 20s and 30s: Axis.

Israel Experiences

This past year we sent more than 200 young people to Israel on various organized trips like Birthright, the King David High School Grade 8 Israel Trip and a range of Israel-based programs sponsored by the Israel and Overseas Affairs Department financial grants. The main goal of these trips is to facilitate an exchange of culture and to build life-long bonds between Jewish youth and young adults from our community and their counterparts in Israel and with the country itself. “I created bonds with the Israelis that will continue to grow over the years. I will never take for granted how lucky I am to have been given the opportunity to have gone on such an amazing trip. “ – Rachel, participant, King David High School Grade 8 Israel Trip

Dragon Boat Israel

We were thrilled to help introduce the sport of dragon boating to Israel in 2012 at the First Annual Dragon Boat Festival on the Sea of Galilee. Twenty-four Vancouverites paddled under the Pacific Chai team, won gold, and helped raise over $50,000 for two charities helping at-risk youth in Northern Israel - Youth Futures and Net@.