|
I was born in Montreal to a very strongly Zionistic family.
I attended the Jewish People School, a Labour Zionist day
school and was very involved in Histadrut as a teenager.
This passion for Israel began with my great-grandfather who
was very active in fundraising to support the Jews in Palestine
in the early 1920’s. He passed on his zeal to my grandmother
Veda Tinkoff. She was a superb fundraiser, honoured and feted
by Pioneer Women for her creativity. She developed a relationship
with all of the major banks in Montreal and got them to give
her the names of dormant account holders. She then painstakingly
tracked these people down and asked them to consider donating
at least half of this ‘found money’ to Pioneer Women.
Her success was legendary and her tenacity made her an exceptional
role model.
Following in her footsteps, my mother was very committed
to Hadassah-WIZO raising funds for women and children in Israel.
Thanks to her, I became very adept at selling raffle tickets
by the time I was old enough to make change.
The result of this ingrained family involvement in giving
back to the community and supporting Israel helped me choose
Jewish communal work as my career. Eighteen years ago, I came
to Toronto to work with USY and from there became a Campaign
Assistant with UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
In this role, I have had the privilege of working with the
Societies Division. These donors have set an example for me
about the true meaning of Tzedakah – giving as much as
you can is never seen as a sacrifice, but as a pleasure.
As a single career woman earning my living in the Jewish
community, for me, it was a natural progression to want to
give back to the Jewish community. I have established a bequest
that leaves my estate to UJA Federation as an unrestricted
gift. I trust them to use these funds where they are most
needed when the time comes.
I am very proud of being a part of the Jewish community
and I hope that in some way, I am setting an example for other
women to leave a legacy for the future.
|
