Jewish Child and Family Service (JCFS) started its celebration year with a family focused event that took place on Sunday afternoon January 22nd at the Rady JCC gymnasium. JCFS Family Fun Day was advertised as a free event with activities that would entertain and captivate the attention of youngsters and their families.
Throughout the afternoon an estimated crowd of 500, with families from all over the community, came through the doors. No one left disappointed as there was an abundance of varied activities to engage the children. Floyd the Clown captivated his audience with his antics and balloon twisting creations. Later in the afternoon, The Bubbleman drew loud applause and excited squeals from the crowd as he created life size bubbles in which members of the audience could actually stand in. The fun house mirrors, glitter tattoos, popcorn and cotton candy added to the carnival like atmosphere. A craft table where the children could decorate their own tzedakah boxes was a popular feature of the afternoon. For those who wanted physical activity the colourful bouncers were set up to slide on and jump up and down.
Allen Pitch from Superb Entertainment provided music and conducted dance contests throughout the afternoon. Emily Shane (JCFS Executive Director) was delighted with the wonderful turnout for this program and the fact that it brought families from every segment of the Jewish community together. If you could hear anything above the noise of music and gleeful children it would be the conversations spoken in a multitude of languages including English, Spanish, Hebrew, and Russian.
The successful afternoon was driven by a JCFS board and staff committee including Mira Narvey and Bruce Caplan (from the JCFS board), Merrill Shwaid, Randee Pollock and Einat Paz Keynan (JCFS staff). Other staff and board members volunteered to help during the day greeting the guests, popping the popcorn or helping at the craft table.
Throughout the year JCFS will be hosting special programs to honour its Century of Caring year. The highlight event will be the May 24th Gala at the Ft Garry Hotel. Sophie Milman, a charismatic Russian-born, Israeli-raised, jazz vocalist will be the featured entertainment for the evening. Sophie is a Juno award winning singer who is gaining international attention as an accomplished and gifted performing artist.
Family Fun Day was an appropriate commencement to the Agency’s Century of Caring year. The roots of JCFS have its origin with the establishment of the Esther Robinson Jewish orphanage in the early 1900’s. Over the past century the agency has responded to the ever evolving social service needs of the Jewish community and has developed services areas such as Immigration and Resettlement, Older Adult Services, Mental Health and Counselling Programs, Financial Assistance, Volunteer support services and Chaplaincy services, as well as expanding its Child Welfare Program to include Foster Care and Adoption. The lives of individuals and families in our community have been strengthened by the presence of JCFS. The agency was here for our grandparents’ generation and the Century of Caring year will help ensure that our grandchildren will also receive the support they need.
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