President's Message July 2018

Shalom Everyone,

                 I hate starting these newsletters reporting the loss of another of our valued members; but I am sad to say Bea Gelfand passed away since the publishing of the June bulletin. Bea was actively involved in so many things at Valley Beth Israel. When she was well you would always find her at services, helping at bingo when we had the games many years ago, involved with Sisterhood, and just a person who always knew what was going on in the synagogue. Whenever I called she immediately recognized my voice and wanted to know how my family was. If you needed to know about someone in the temple you called Bea. What a wonderful lady who will be deeply missed. I certainly hope we all stay well; our condolences to Bonnie MacDougal (her granddaughter).

Now let’s get to the nitty-gritty of this month’s newsletter. First of all: WE’RE STILL HERE. We have gone through a very difficult financial crisis but thanks to all of you we are slowly beginning a turn-around. Understand that we have a long way to go but with everyone helping we will return to better times. For years we didn’t pay attention to the handwriting on the wall—you have to cut expenses while increasing revenue. Surpluses that we may have had are gone and we have struggled to keep all our bills current.

Here’s what we’re doing: 1) billing statements for FY 2018-19 are ready to be mailed. I have included with your bill a letter that explains the new look; each statement is individualized for every person so please check it out carefully; 2) we have cut expenses every where we can—the office is only open two days per week, we have changed our phone service, we have eliminated our trash bins because CCRC has agreed that we can use theirs;  3) we are looking into new ways to generate revenue but I will not tell you about them until we have a handle on them (pray that they will come true); and 4) we are planning several fundraisers for the first six months of this new fiscal year. What we are doing is going to require you, every one of you, to be a part of the effort. For instance, we are planning a Mah Jongg tournament but it cannot happen without approximately 16 people being actively involved: we will need card tables in good condition (maybe 20), we need people to help prepare food and serve the continental breakfast and lunch, etc. We need volunteers whose job we will spell out very soon. A tournament such as this can bring in maybe a minimum of $1500 for that one day. If you’re interested please call me. I will have more details soon.

                 Our first fun(d)-raiser will be on July 15^th, a Sunday afternoon. We plan to have a BBQ (hot dogs and hamburgers with potato salad, cole slaw and all the fixin’s) and then “bingo” and “horse racing” in the social hall. We’ll try to do both games during the time we allot but no matter what we will have a great time. Please make plans to join us. Whoa, I’m out of space and actually have a lot more to say. Next month I’ll continue.

  
Ron