We Need Your Time, Talent and Commitment!

November 2018 Newsletter Article

Dear friends,

I realize some of you might be tempted to skip over this column as soon as you realize that I’m writing to ask for volunteers. Wait!  Please give me me a chance to say why your reaction shouldn’t be, “Oh no, not again, can’t they ask someone else?”

As you know, we rely on our committees to provide many services which are the lifeblood of our temple.  A little over a year ago when I became President, I knew of a number of committees which had open positions and that it would be my job to help fill them. There were volunteers who had moved, were burned out, or were ready to move on to something new – and they needed to be replaced with fresh people who were interested in becoming involved.  It was a process of working to find the right people to step in to fill some holes.  I’ve been very pleased over these months to have been a part of making progress in these important volunteer areas.

Well, it turns out that looking for volunteers is a never-ending process.  Change is the norm.  Each volunteer has a limit on how long they want to be in the same position, doing essentially the same thing.  We each maintain a balance in our lives between looking for new challenges and wanting to keep to the comfortable status quo.  There comes a time for every volunteer when they let us know they’d like to move on.  If circumstances permit, most are gracious and offer to stay until someone can replace them, but we must respect their wishes once they’ve let us know..

Let me briefly run through where our most urgent volunteer needs are today.

• Our Oneg Committee needs someone to send reminder emails throughout the year.
• Our Communications Committee needs some new blood to help with our temple media outlets.
• We need to grow our Membership Committee, whose goal is to create life-long members through recruiting and integrating new members. This melds nicely with some corresponding efforts by other committees to increase publicity in neighboring towns, and to focus on engagement of our members.
• The Finance Committee is looking for some additional voices.
• A new Beautification Committee would be beneficial, and requires members who bring a critical eye to the aesthetics of our property.
• We want to form a Green Team to build on some recent efforts we’ve made to make our building more “green”, with an immediate focus on looking at ways to make our kitchen more environmentally conscious. Please read Rabbi Perry’s column in this issue for more information.

These are the committees that are in crucial need of support. We are looking for members, at any level of involvement, for each.  If you want to help, but can’t see how you fit into the opportunities I’ve listed here, please let me know and we’ll have a conversation.  I urge you to volunteer by contacting me at president@congregationshalom.org. You will have a direct beneficial impact on our entire membership.  To those of you ready to offer your time, your talent, and your commitment – thank you!

L’shalom,

Joanna Myers