From the desk of president Steve Shafir

FROM THEDESK OF

STEVE SHAFIR

PRESIDENT

At our annual general meeting in December, I will stand before the community for the last time as president of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. This is my final HaKol article. I wish to take the time here to recognize those people who I am most greatly indebted to for making the previous four years successful for me and for our community.

I have previously paid tribute to all of our staff, volunteers and donors who have given tirelessly for the betterment of our community frequently over the last four years. The experience of being president of the Federation, while tiring and daunting, has been a great honour. One that I will always remember with fond memories, despite the issues that may have brought me angst and sleepless nights while they were ongoing. Now, for the most important thank yous:

Nava, Lexi, and Talya—thank you for giving a piece of me up for the community on many nights over the last four years. Thank you for your patience while I waded through issues that arose, and I had to excuse myself at a moment’s notice to deal with. Thank you for listening to me ramble on for hours about the goings-on at the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. Thank you for your understanding when I missed a tuck-in or a story time as I was in meetings.

I owe you for the time I missed, and I want you to know that all the work I did over the past four years was with you in mind—trying to make our community a better, stronger community for you to live in and grow up in.

For all the time I have spent dedicated to volunteering for our community over my term as president, I want you to know that I did so thinking of you, of your future, your lives and your community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I feel I am leaving our community a better one, and one that you and I can all be proud to be a part of.

Nava and Lexi, I hope that one day you will give back to your community. I hope that my work has served as an example for you and you can not only do whatever you put your minds to, but that you can help build your community up and make it what you think would be best for you and your families. I hope you one day look back and know that I tried as hard as I could to do that for you.

What I believe is my success is nothing without your sacrifices. For that, I cannot thank you enough. I believe that the community owes you a debt of gratitude for giving up your dad and husband on many occasions over the past number of years. I am looking forward to being around a lot more now that my term is ending. I love you all.

With this, I leave the Federation in your hands. I hope we can continue to build on our successes.

Steve Shafir, President