September is the beginning of many things, the start of a school year, the start of the Jewish year as well as the start of Burquest's fiscal year. As we embark on lots of new beginnings this September we wanted to give you a sense of what to look forward to in the coming year.
Almost a year ago, in the midst of Covid, your board conveyed and undertook and important exercise of outlining our goals, priorities for the next few years. we also reaffirmed our vision of a lively and welcome Jewish community.
Three key external facing goals that surfaced during the exercise were:
1. Jewish people will feel a sense of home and community at Burquest and support the organization.
2. Jewish people will enjoy access to engaging programs that connect them to each other and their heritage.
3. Burquest will be known as a hub for the Jewish Community in the tri-cities and beyond.
To accomplish these goals, we have committed to strengthening existing long time running activities as well as enhancing program diversity to appeal to broader demographics and ensure program offerings are relevant to our evolving community and providing low barrier ways to engage with the organization. This will be accomplished via 3 streams: Education, Social connections and ritual practice
The result of this commitment you will see in the array of programs at Burquest this coming year.
A few highlights:
1. Coat of Many Colors series brings in diverse clergy from different Jewish denominations for experiential and educational sessions
2. Two Hebrew schools to choose from - Chabad run BC Regional Hebrew School and Keif B'Ivrit
3. Social activities: Dragon boating, nature hikes, fitness activities for all ages
Finally, we would be a miss not to mention the financial and time commitment of a few key organizations and people.
Thanks to Jewish Federation funding we have been fortunate to hire a part time programming coordinator, Yossi Degen who has developed a yearly activity schedule of our enhanced programming
Thanks to Zanna Linskaia our long time seniors program coordinator that keeps our seniors engaged and active with her ongoing and special event programs.
Thanks to our administrator, Marina Karpilovski who is online all the time responding to community needs and coordinates us all
Thanks to our members whose financial contributions ensure building viability and sustainability for our community
Thanks to our dedicated board that work tirelessly daily for Burquest to achieve its vision of a lively and welcoming Jewish community.
We sincerely hope to see you at a Burquest program in the near future! You are all part of our vision!
Make sure you are in the know! Check out our website: www.Burquest.org
Are you getting our newsletter? If not, email Marina at admin@burquest.org to be added
Are you following us on facebook? https://www.facebook.com/burquest
Are you part of the whatsapp group “TriCities Jewish Families”? https://chat.whatsapp.com/FaysWjC3uA50r82Fo9cJtj
Mark your calendars
Burquest’s inaugural Fundraising event
“Sowing seeds for growth”
February 5th, 2022
Tu B’Shvat Seder and Dinner
Entertainment
Silent Auction