Posts Tagged federation
Torontonians bike for charity in Israel
After five grueling days of riding across desert terrain in support of Alyn Hospital, Ruth Ekstein triumphantly entered Eilat on her mountain bike with 424 other riders amidst a cheering crowd. “It was the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done,” says the long-time UJA Federation volunteer. “We didn’t know if we should laugh or cry or yell and I think we did a little of all three.”
One of 50 Torontonians who completed this year’s Wheels of Love charity ride, in which participants biked from Jerusalem to Eilat to raise money for Israel’s only comprehensive pediatric and adolescent rehabilitation centre, Ekstein describes the experience with unbridled enthusiasm. “The scenery was spectacular, the weather was amazing, and there were 425 riders from ten countries so the opportunity to meet a bunch of crazy like-minded people was fantastic. I’d go again in a heartbeat.”
Earl Haltrecht, an orthodontist from Toronto and co-chair of UJA Federation’s Partners Circle raised US $5,500 on the charity ride. “I love riding, I love Israel, and it’s a fabulous cause, so I’d say it was win-win-win.”
Alyn Hospital, a world leader in rehabilitation of children with a broad range of physical disabilities, is the only facility of its kind in Israel.
“Any time there are children involved - whether it’s a congenital deformity or accident victims or victims of terror, your heart opens up and you’ll do anything for them,” says Haltrecht.
Although Ekstein has been supporting the Alyn ride for many years, this was the first year that the occupational therapist from Toronto put her feet where her money is.
From October 29 to November 2, she averaged 100 off-road kilometers each day, going “where roads don’t go, which was really exceptional,” and raising almost US $7,000 for Alyn, which is well on its way to reaching its $2.5 million goal for this year’s ride.
Ekstein first got involved with Wheels of Love five years ago, when her best friend participated in the ride and asked her to help fundraise. At the time, her husband - Alan Lechem - was co-chair of the Israel Action Committee at Beit Rayim Synagogue, and the synagogue took on fundraising for Alyn.
“My husband decided,‘why just fundraise when I can also ride,’ so in 2004 he went with four members of our synagogue and then last year he went again. But this year I and another woman from our synagogue said,‘well if the boys can do it, we can too,’so we went this year and my husband stayed home with the kids.”
http://www.jewishtoronto.com/page.aspx?id=6710
reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO
Tomorrow Campaign
The Tomorrow Campaign is the story of a community’s journey. Although this story is focused on the present and the future, neither could exist before understanding some of the history of Toronto’s Jewish community.
The Jewish community of Toronto can trace its roots back to the 1800s. As the Jews of Eastern Europe, living under oppression and persecution, fled their towns and villages, many arrived in Toronto seeking freedom and a brighter future.
Regardless of which shtetl the new Torontonians came from and any hardships they faced, they all shared one common vision: a city that could sustain a growing population and fulfill their need to live vibrant Jewish lives.
In 1917, Toronto’s first Jewish federation — the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies — was incorporated, replacing the unorganized collection of individual Jewish charities, each knocking on doors and raising funds for their own causes. The Federation’s primary responsibility was fundraising for what was to become United Jewish Appeal.
As Toronto’s Jews became an increasingly organized, unified force, so too did their dreams. Understanding that the Jewish community would continue to grow due to the waves of immigration flooding into Toronto, their dreams turned to building a city where Jews could flourish and succeed.
In 1930 the YMHA (Young Men’s Hebrew Association)was born, offering members various programming opportunities in rented rooms in the Brunswick Avenue and College Street area. By 1953 a new facility was built — the Bloor Street “Y” at Bloor and Spadina — today the Miles Nadal JCC, to house the growing membership of a burgeoning community.
As Jewish life began moving north up the Bathurst Street corridor, so too did the Jewish facilities and services. 1958 saw the groundbreaking of the North “Y,” the current Bathurst Jewish Community Centre.
Building for the
Next Generation
A tradition of one generation building Jewish infrastructure for the next was born. Many of the visionaries who worked tirelessly to ensure that the North “Y” was built, would never use the facility, live near it, or benefit personally from it. Nor would their own children. But these visionaries understood that a strong Jewish identity is fostered in a robust Jewish city, and the way to keep a community thriving is to keep meeting its needs.
UJA Federation’s Tomorrow Campaign is the next logical link in the chain that has connected Toronto’s Jewish community from one generation to the next. It is the Campaign that has worked to revolutionize Jewish Toronto, bringing our community to the forefront of innovation. It is the Campaign that will raise $350 million dollars to continue the tradition of building infrastructure to preserve and enrich Jewish identity and culture. It is the Campaign that will change the landscape of Jewish Toronto forever.
reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO
http://tomorrowcampaign.com/index.php?action=history&camp_id=2
Moishe Alexander Donates to UJA Federation
Moishe Alexander donated $720.00 CDN to UJA Federation (http://www.jewishtoronto.com) in 2008.
About UJA Federation of Toronto:
UJA Federation is the organizational hub of Toronto’s Jewish Community, open to community members representing all religious streams, varying viewpoints, a wide variety of backgrounds and a wealth of ideas. UJA Federation is a catalyst for new projects and initiatives that meet the community’s current and future needs. UJA Federation, in partnership with our community, is meeting the ever changing requirements of a rapidly expanding Jewish Toronto by bringing together philanthropists, professionals, volunteers, schools and agencies.