On Wednesday, June 14, we held our Annual Volunteer Recognition event once again in-person at the Bernard Betel Centre. The event was in celebration of those volunteers who assisted during the pandemic and those who helped as we re-opened and provided a warm welcome to our members, clients and community. After a couple of years of meeting virtually, everyone was anxious to meet face-to-face. This year we decided to host a cocktail reception where our volunteers could meet, mingle and reconnect.
Guests included volunteers from the front-line, Board of Directors, and Members Council. Marcus Staviss, President, Board of Directors and Gail Gould, Executive Director presented our 2023 Milestone volunteers with a pin for their years of service and a certificate from Ya’ara Saks, MP York Centre.
Congratulations to our 2023 Milestone Volunteers for their extra-ordinary dedication and commitment!
10 years of service: Susan Argintaru, Nina Arichonkova, Tatyana Karpacheva, Gary Levine, Vivian Margulis, Mark Niman, Roman Senderovich and Steven Simon.
5 years of service: Bob Berchuk, Gail Berchuk, Phyllis G. Caplan, Vitalii Goldman, Rivka Jakubovic, Naum Kogan, Marya Korovin, Antonina Kreiman, Michael Postoff, Beverley Rothschild, Joan Shain, Mali Wasserman and Judith Weinryb.
A highlight of the event was when Irina Khodourskaia read a poem she wrote in recognition of the Betel Centre volunteers. Irina herself is a Betel volunteer. Dianne Erdos-Rush who was our Master of Ceremonies for the event created a video of our volunteer team in action. The video played on a loop throughout the event and in addition to photos, included written messages from our clients, members and volunteers. We hope that everyone enjoyed the event. Going forward, we will continue to find creative and meaningful ways to thank our incredible Betel volunteer team.
THANKS TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AND VOLUNTEER AT BETEL WHO MAKE MY LIFE MORE PLEASANT IN MANY WAYS INCLUDING CHIROPODY AND KOSHER MEALS ON WHEELS, THE INTER-GENERATIONAL PROOGRAM, MEMOIR WRITING AND MANY OTHER SERVICES
OOPS! SPELLING “PROGRAM”!