Recently, I had the opportunity to look back and read some of my previous greetings written in Connect!, the Betel program book. In one summer edition, I quoted from the George Gershwin song ‘Summertime’ (and the livin’ is easy) because of my love of summer, musicals, and the opportunity to spend more time outside with family and friends. This summer with the Province staging its’ reopening, and more Canadians being vaccinated, we can all hope and plan for greater outdoor activity with small numbers of our friends and family ensuring the wearing of masks and physical distancing. This summer we can hope for our lives to be significantly enriched by greater human interaction and engagement. We can hope for the return to however we define normal.
I think we can all agree that the past 16 months have been exceptionally hard on everyone. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, many of us have sadly lost family members, friends, and many of our Betel community. While these losses have been devastating, they have also made us realize the importance of connection and community. The importance of human kindness and compassion. The importance of in person connections and sharing of common interests, physical, spiritual, and intellectual opportunities. The importance of the Bernard Betel Centre.
While we don’t know when we will be able to re-open our doors to our Betel community for on-site programming, we do know that our online and teleconferencing programs have kept our Betel community involved and engaged. We have done our best to provide you with a wide array of programs and services during the past 16 months. As we start planning for the future, we would like to ask you to renew your membership and financially invest in the Betel Centre. As a membership based organization that operates on membership and course fees, this past year has been a challenge for the Centre.
Please help us in investing in the Centre and your future as we plan to re-open our doors. Please contact reception at 416-225-2112, ext. 0 or reception@betelcentre.org to renew your membership, or Katie Giles, (katieg@betelcentre.org) or myself (gailg@betelcentre.org) to discuss how you can invest in Betel.
More than ever we need your help!
Wishing you a healthy, happy and relaxing summer.
Fondly,
Gail Gould
Executive Director
Thank you Gail for an uplifting and hopeful message that this summer “…we will rise up singing, spread our wings and take to the skies!” Amen to that!
Wishing you, the Staff and Volunteers a healthy summer through a Joyful June, Joyous July and an Awesome August!
Cheers from Hazel & Ab Salman