JFSA Honoured at by Vancouver Talmud Torah Students

(left to right: VTT Student Mia Kaye, JFSA Executive Director Joel Kaplan, VTT Student Noa Gurvis)

On Tuesday, June 1st, Jewish Family Service Agency received $600 from Vancouver Talmud Torah’s Grade 7 students Mia Kaye and Noa Gurvis as part of the 3rd Annual Mitzvah of Valuing Philanthropy (MVP) presentation.

The MVP program, which was started by VTT instructor Sari Weintraub, was designed to help students who are at their Bat/Bar Mitzvah age to understand the importance of Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world. As part of their Mitzvah (or commandment), the students are to research various philanthropic agencies with local representation and then allocate funds from their Bat/Bar Mitzvah to the agency of their choice.

Mia and Noa chose Jewish Family Service Agency because, as Noa states, “ (JFSA) does, for lack of a better word, everything. You (JFSA) feed people, get them jobs, help them with family and communal issues get them homes. It’s truly amazing. I’m honored to have been able to help an agency such as this.”

The MVP program has raised around $20,000 the last two years, this year raising $18,000. Although a large part of the donations come from the students and their families, they do have major donors that contribute every year. Other non-profit agencies that were also included in this year’s giving were Alzheimer’s Society of BC, Habitat for Humanity and A Better Life Dog Rescue.