Welcome to Zoe's "I ❤️ Vancouver" Mitzvah fundraiser for food security! Thank you for visiting.
We know these are challenging times for everyone so we'd like to explain why we're asking for your help in fundraising for hungry people in Vancouver.
Covid-19 brought a lot of changes and disappointments for everyone. Zoe's Bat Mitzvah, which had been planned for June 2020, was cancelled along with a number of other things she had been looking forward to: dance competitions, grade 7 graduation, the Strathcona trip, and her mitzvah project to name a few. Quarantine brought hardship for many and throughout, our family recognized how lucky we were that we got to eat dinner together every single night. When quarantine ended, we decided we would continue to make the video we had planned for Zoe's Bat Mitsvah in the hopes that it would debut in the spring on the new date when we would hopefully be able to celebrate together. The video is, in part, a tribute to the great city that Zoe was born in and has grown up in. Making it, we were again reminded that as amazing as Vancouver is, there is still struggle here. Some of it is visible and some is not. Zoe decided we could use the making of the video to celebrate her milestone with a fundraiser for food security.
One in six people in the Jewish community in Vancouver lives in poverty. This can mean having to choose between food and medicine, choosing foods lacking nutrition or variety, or even doing without meals entirely.
It shouldn't be like that! It doesn't have to be like that.
Our goal is to raise $10,000 by September 28, 2020, to give nutritious food to hungry people in Vancouver. Above, you see a picture of all of Zoe's friends who came out to support her during the making of the video. Our family got things started by donating one hundred dollars for every friend who showed up. That's twenty-eight hundred dollars to get things going. We will also match any further donations until we reach our goal. Hopefully we can surpass it! Donations will be used to support the food security programs at Jewish Family Services, including the Jewish Food Bank, and meal delivery services for seniors and other housebound people. It's also worth noting that 20% of the support JFS provides goes to non-jewish members of the community.
We know there are many causes out there to support. What Zoe and all of us would like you to think about is how invisible food insecurity can be. Everything can seem fine to the outside observer, and nobody outside the family might know the struggle going on to avoid going hungry.
Each month, JFS helps over 1000 people eat nutritious meals with kindness and dignity. We want to help, and hope you do too! Your support will help:
- A young family, with the parents out of work due to the COVID crisis
- A senior living on a fixed income
- An adult with a terminal illness waiting to get into hospice
- An adult with mobility issues who can't shop or cook
In this time of unprecedented uncertainty, we are so grateful to be healthy, safe, and to have the means to give. We ask you, please, to think of those in our community whose challenges are even greater than ours. Please give to help make Zoe's fundraiser a success and help people who truly need us.
And check back often as we will continue to update this site with sneak peek pictures from the video. Everyone who donates will get to see the finished product!
Thank you!
- The Cooper Family
