Volunteer Profiles

Find out how our volunteers are helping with the Door to the Future campaign.
Updates
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As of March 21, our Door to the Future Campaign has raised a total of: $3.68 M from 160 gifts and pledges, including lead donors, Temple members, and non-members.
This week’s volunteer profiles are on Louise and Lorne Rachlis. Get to know Louise and Lorne! We thank Louise who writes all of our profiles. Enjoy!
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As of March 14, our Door to the Future Campaign has raised a total of: $3.62 M from 146 gifts or pledges, including pre-campaign donors.
This week’s volunteer profile is on Ruth Middlebrook. Read a longer version of this profile, get to know Ruth! We thank Louise Rachlis who writes these profiles. Enjoy!
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The Door to the Future Campaign is well underway with $3.49M already pledged, representing 81% of the Campaign goal of $4.3M.
As of March 8, our Door to the Future Campaign has raised a total of: $3.61 M from 138 gifts or pledges, including 15 pre-campaign donors.
This week’s volunteer profile features Jan Jones. Read a longer version of this profile. These profiles are created with the help of Louise Rachlis, a member of the Marcom committee. Enjoy!
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The Door to the Future Campaign is well underway with $3.49M already pledged, representing 81% of the Campaign goal of $4.3M.
As of February 28, 242 of the 305 Temple families have been approached by one of our volunteer canvassers. Thank you to everyone who has responded positively to the canvassers’ calls! Special thanks to the Young Families Committee for organizing the Mini-Photoshoot event on February 12. It was an amazing community-building event that helped raise over $1300 for the Campaign.
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Owen Purcell-Sutherland and Robin Chernick kindly donated their time and expertise for the mini photo shoot fundraiser event that was organized by the Young Families Committee of the Door to the Future Campaign. Read a longer version of this profile. These profiles are created with the help of Louise Rachlis, a member of the Marcom committee. Enjoy! -
As of February 21, our Door to the Future Campaign has raised a total of: $3.48M from 92 gifts or pledges, including 15 pre-campaign donors.
This week’s volunteer profile is on Cynthia Powell. Read a longer version of this profile, get to know Cynthia! These profiles are created with the help of Louise Rachlis, a member of the Marcom committee. Enjoy!
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The Door to the Future Campaign is well underway with $3.37M already pledged, representing 78% of the Campaign goal of $4.3M. Thank you to everyone who has responded positively to the canvassers’ calls!And just as the fundraising campaign is moving ahead, so is the Building Renewal Steering Committee (BRSC).
As the campaign progresses, BRSC is preparing for the next stage of the renovation project: seeking Board approval to proceed with the building construction phase.
Since January 2023, the BRSC has been active on numerous fronts: working with Figurr Architects to refine the detailed design, preparing financial analyses for the Board based on campaign results and construction cost estimates, and overseeing plans for relocation of the synagogue services during construction.
The BRSC was established in Fall 2022 when the renovation project was first approved by the Board and then endorsed by the congregation in October 2022. (The Building Renewal Action Committee was dissolved following the congregation’s positive vote.)
The BRSC’s purpose is to oversee the renovation project with a mandate to:
- Implement and coordinate the renovation project, meeting timelines within budget
- Oversee contractors, including Colliers Project Leaders, Figurr Architects, Philanthropica, and other consultants with unique expertise
- Report regularly on the project status to the President, Executive and Board
- Liaise with Temple Israel staff to respect principles of good administration, minimize disruptions to regular operations and maintain good working relations
The current BRSC members are:
- Miriam Burke, Chair (Board President)
- Margot Montgomery, Campaign Co-Chair also responsible for communications (Board Past President)
- Gary Viner, Campaign Co-Chair
- Mark Palmer, responsible for construction and liaison with Colliers Project Leaders (Board 2nd Vice President)
- Stephen Mendelson, Board Treasurer
- Garry Kessler, Chair of Finance Committee (Board member)
- Rabbi Mikelberg
- Heather Cohen, Executive Director
The full Terms of Reference for the BRSC. See the Terms of Reference.
I hope you’re as excited as I am about our progress so far. If you have any questions about the project, please contact me or other BRSC members.
I look forward to updating you further in the months ahead.
Miriam Burke
Temple Israel President and Chair of BRSC -
As of February 14, our Door to the Future Campaign has raised a total of: $3.37M from 81 gifts or pledges, including 15 pre-campaign donors. This represents 78.4% of the Campaign goal of 4.3M.Special thanks to the Young Families Committee for organizing the Mini-Photoshoot event. It was an amazing community-building event and it helped raise over $1300 for the Campaign.
This week’s volunteer profile is on Sarah Caspi. Read a longer version of this profile, get to know Sarah! These profiles are created with the help of Louise Rachlis, a member of the Marcom committee. Enjoy!
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As of February 7, our Door to the Future Campaign has raised a total of: $3.16M from 62 gifts or pledges, including 15 lead donors.Our second campaign volunteer profile is Jim Merson. Read a longer version of this profile, its almost like a visit to catch up on Jim’s news! These profiles are created with the help of Louise Rachlis, a member of the Marcom committee. Enjoy!
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I’m excited to let you know that following a competitive process, McDonald Brothers has been awarded the Construction Management contract for the Design Development phase of Temple Israel’s building renewal project.
In collaboration with Figurr Architects, Colliers Project Leaders and other consultants, McDonald Brothers Construction has begun pre-construction work.
The areas to be covered include a field review of the project, a topographical survey, and an electrical engineering review. The design development phase is taking place now, and in March/April the construction phase will select the trades.
I am further delighted to share that, as of January 29th, from 54 donor families, we have raised $3,096,000 of the $4,300,000 estimated budget for the project.Our hard-working Door to the Future volunteer canvassers are busy fundraising and have begun reaching out to over 250 Temple members who have not already pledged to the Campaign.
As President of Temple, I also Chair the Building Renewal Steering Committee (BRSC), which meets weekly to coordinate the project and report and provide recommendations to the Board as required.
The other BRSC members are Steve Mendelsohn, Garry Kessler, Gary Viner, Mark Palmer, Margot Montgomery, Rabbi Mikelberg and Heather Cohen. Together they represent Finance, the Door to the Future Campaign, Construction, Communications and Temple staff.
As we continue forward, there have been no significant changes to the construction project budget so far, and the few expenditures incurred for design development work are within our budget.
While moving to the tendering phase and subsequent milestones will be conditional upon sufficient financial resources and Board approval to proceed, we are well on our way.
I would like to take this opportunity to express appreciation to our Campaign volunteers and BRSC members for their tireless efforts towards reaching our goal I look forward to reporting more good news to you very soon!
Miriam Burke
Temple Israel President and Chair of BRSC -
“Tzedakah is a “Mitzvah” – a commandment and good deed – having the implication of obligatory duty.”