President’s Report

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since becoming your Temple President. They say it takes a village to complete tasks. We are blessed with a fantastic board of Trustees, Executive Committee, Clergy, Executive Director, Director of Congregational Education, Preschool Director and staff who go above and beyond every day.

This year we have seen tremendous growth in our Temple congregation, which we can attribute to the One Family initiative, being a more open and caring community and having a Membership Engagement Coordinator, who I am happy to say is now full time. On Friday nights we also have a group of volunteers, “Shalom Chaverim” who greet visitors and congregants from the time they are walking into the temple through the Oneg Shabbat.

This year we worked on branding and marketing our Temple. We updated our mission statement and designed a new logo that reflected our congregation. The Voice is now printed in color with thicker paper, and has a fresh look on the cover and the inside.

We would like to thank the Baer family for donating furniture for our front lobby. The hearing loop was also installed in the sanctuary along with new carpeting. Congregants were also able to stream services at home if they were not able to be here. The first phase of the Tribute Garden was completed and we are now working on Phase 2 with adding trees, benches and personalized pavers. All of this was accomplished through generous donations of our congregants who had a passion for these projects.

FROM DUES TO PLEDGES: Probably the biggest change as we go forward is the concept of moving from dues to a pledge system, L’Shalom. We wanted to remove the barriers to membership engagement. The Board of Trustees studied and evaluated this for several months and looked at other congregations that had success. We felt this was the right time to introduce this new concept of giving from the heart. However, we realized that this was a risk when we ask congregants to give what they can, rather than give them a bill to pay for dues. We know that we have very generous congregants that give Above and Beyond and this campaign was very successful this year. In addition, our Endowment and Planned Giving Program was brought to the forefront and we have had a great increase in those funds due to a very well thought out campaign. Our Bimah to Broadway Encore fundraiser was also a tremendous success, as it was well attended and everyone was thoroughly mesmerized by the Cantors voices. Our pledges alone do not sustain the temple. We depend on Above and Beyond, Fundraising, Endowment and general donations as well as our pledges to meet our budget. We thank all of our congregants as well as Sisterhood and Men’s Club who give so willingly to Temple Shalom.

I feel very fortunate to be a part of this great congregation. From our exemplary Preschool, Religious School and our Adult Education, to our wonderful services and special events we have something for everyone. Thank you for allowing me to be your President.