NCJWA VIC 

Ali Davis, Morgan Lincoln andJainie Mills are the recipients of this year's JCCV Young Leaders award. The Jam Project, which they co-founded, piloted in 2017 and in 2018 became one of NCJWA Vic's suite of programs. 

With the generous contributions from Gandel Philanthropy and the Spotlight Foundation, The Jam Project is full steam ahead for 2019 with applications open until the end of November. 

The Jam Project is a yearlong buddy program which pairs Year 9 girls with a trained, young adult woman aged between 21-28 years old. The program provides adolescent girls with a role model and someone they can relate to and talk to, someone who understands the ins and outs of being a teenage girl in our modern world. 

Girls and buddies meet fortnightly, one-on-one, enjoying a walk in the park, sharing hot chocolate, engaging in art activities or visiting places of interest like the NGV. These catch ups enable strong relationships to form allowing our older, trained buddies to share their wisdom and experience, regarding friendships, body image, peer pressure, school and social media, with their match.

Additionally, group sessions for girls and buddies run throughout the year and include: a documentary movie night on body image; guest speakers discussing mental health, social media, resilience and social justice and addressing other topical issues, enabling girls and buddies to form a group bond and provoking discussion. 

The Jam Project is "not only a buddy program but a place to discuss relevant worldly issues with a bunch of passionate women both in Year 9 and in their twenties… Jam has seen my development as a person because of group sessions and my one on one relationship with my buddy who has helped me grow as a person" (Mia, Year 9).

The Jam Project will host its second 'Jamfest' event, a celebration of young women and girls, on Sunday 25th November 2018, 4pm-6pm at Mr Sister Café. This is an opportunity to learn more about The Jam Project. Our guest speaker Jaime Nosworthy (General Manager of Tiger Pistol) will share her journey of working in an industry which is primarily male dominated, as well as exploring how we can all take advantage of social media and technology. Tickets are $10 including a raffle draw entry and can be purchased at www.ncjwavic.org.au.

Applications for The Jam Project:

Girls in Year 8 2018 (Year 9 2019) and buddies aged 21-28 can apply now at www.ncjwavic.org.au/Jam. Applications close November 28th.

For more details:

Ali Davis: 0408 366 151

Morgan Lincoln:  0413 126 828

Jainie Mills:  0400 722 362

Our 91st Annual General Meeting on Thursday, 23 August was a very special night.

A highlight of the evening was the announcement that NCJWA (Vic) has entered into an agreement in principle with the Theodor Herzl Social Club to significantly contribute to the re-development and upgrading of facilities at the Herzl Club site at 222 Balaclava Road and acquire part ownership of this site.

Once the work is complete, NCJWA (Vic) will join the Herzl club and current tenants in the renovated premises, so beginning another chapter for these organisations in a renewed community centre. Future plans for our current buildings 131-133 Hawthorn Road are still being determined.

Elections for Office bearers and those nominating for Board positions were also conducted.

2018/19 Board

Office Bearers:

• President Miriam Bass
  
• Vice President Debbie Strauch
  
• Treasurer Hannah Greenberg
  
• Secretary Helen Lewin
  

Board members: 

• Moran Dvir
  
• Sally Davis  
  
• Judy Hacker
  
• Elaine Jacobs
  
• Anna Serry
  
• Karen Stock
  
• Ann Wollner
  

We would also like to congratulate the award winners for 2018:

• Sylvia Gelman Award: Etty Ben David and Monica Brivik
  
• President's Award: Sandy Abrahams
  
• Fanny Reading Scholarship: Avi Winner
  
• Caulfield Volunteer Award: Shelley Dukes
  

Thank you to all those who joined us for the evening.

Miriam Bass
President

Want to know more about the current situation of Women in Israel but were unable to make it to our 2018 Mina Fink Lecture with Professor Daphna Hacker from Tel Aviv Univeristy? 

A video of the lecture is now available here and on our YouTube Channel.

CARING MUMS IN THE AGE AND ON ABC RADIO - Our Caring Mums program was recently featured in both The Age online edition and on ABC Radio.  Read more below!

The Age newspaper published an article on our Caring Mums program on February 25th 2018. Read the article online here!

Volunteer Ellie Smorgon and a mum, Shannon, were interviewed on ABC Radio 774. Listen to the interview here: Caring mums 774 Radio.MP3

Last Thursday night we held our 90^th AGM, with President Miriam Bass welcoming guests and providing an overview of the year that was. A special Jubilee video presentation was also screened showing the history of the organisation and in particular founder Dr Fanny Reading MBE in action. This was followed by the Caring Mums Clip produced by Channel 9.

Miriam acknowledged that it was a privilege to be honoured with being the City of Glen Eira’s 2017 Community Group of the Year, noted the expansion of the Caring Mums program into the City of Kingston, the roll out of the Jam project, our mentor project for teenage girls and the successful engagement of a younger group of women.

“It has been a busy and productive year with many exciting happenings. We can be justifiably proud of our achievements not only this year but for the ninety years of continuous service to the community”, said Bass. “I am looking forward to the remainder of our 90^th Anniversary year and powering more women and girls for a better world.”

Nine board members were re-elected together with President Miriam Bass, and Moran Dvir will be joining the Board as an observer.

Shirley Glance, Immediate Past President, stepped down to focus on her position on the National Board. Shirley was elected an Honorary Life Member.

Several awards were presented during the evening to those who made an outstanding contribution to the organisation and to the community over the year.

Ellie Smorgon and Roslyn Gunn received the President’s Award for their initiative and commitment to the organisation.

Sandra Levinson was awarded the President’s Service Award for her dedication as a previous Board member and Chair of the Events Committee.

David Southwick MP presented Mina Levy with the Glen Eira District Victoria Volunteer Award for her commitment to the organisation particularly in the capacity of Volunteer Coordinator.  Mina recently stepped down from this position after 6 years of dedicated service.

The Sylvia Gelman Award for Outstanding Woman Educator in the area of Jewish Studies in Victoria was awarded to Amanda Castelan-Starr, a remarkable educator at Mount Scopus College.

The Fanny Reading Scholarship was awarded in absentia to Roni Froumine by Dr Dvir Abramovich, Director Program in Jewish Culture and Society, University of Melbourne. 

It was wonderful to see so many past Presidents in attendance and have their continued support of the organisation.

The evening concluded with the cutting of a specially made cake to mark the organisation’s 90^th year. 

Board and senior staff of NCJWA (Vic) have been in Israel, taking part in the ICJW Seminar.

End of seminar - Yael Deckelbaum's "Prayer of the Mothers"

(original can be found at www.yaeldeckelbaum.com/en/prayerofthemothers)

A Big Thank you to Stephen Pinch

It is often assumed that mothers will seek out other mothers when it comes to parenting and support, but there are men out there who really care too.

On the occasion of his 60th birthday, Stephen asked all 65 of his male guests for donations to Caring Mums in lieu of gifts, and give with care they did.

We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the men, many of whom are fathers and grandfathers.

Stephen’s wife Frankie is the Administration and Marketing Manager for Caring Mums, and their daughter Lauren and grandson Toby feature in the promotional material. So Caring Mums for the Pinch’s has become quite a family affair, and their passion and support shows!

Stephen is pictured here with NCJWA (Vic) President Miriam Bass.

A BIG thank you to all of our volunteers!

To celebrate National Volunteer Week we held a special thank you celebration in the presence of Cr Jim Magee, Deputy Mayor City of Glen Eira, to acknowledge the wonderful work our volunteers do in making a real difference in people’s lives across our many programs.

You are all an inspiration and your dedication to NCJWA(Vic) is greatly appreciated.

Pesach is a festival of liberation, freedom and redemption. The story we tell during the Pesach seder is one of liberation from slavery in Egypt thousands of years ago. The seder is a time of both joy and reflection. It invites animated discussion about modern forms of slavery - the trafficking of women, child labour, the plight of refugees and others who are not yet free. 

In modern times many of us have added elements to the seder table: potato peelings to remember those lost in the holocaust; the cup of Miriam to commemorate the miracle of Miriam’s well that provided the Children of Israel with water during 40 years in the wilderness. In my house the Cup of Miriam has a place of honour alongside Elijah’s cup as a reminder of the importance of our women leaders past and present.

The team at NCJWA (Vic) Inc extend our good wishes for a happy and kosher Pesach to our members, volunteers, friends and supporters.

Chag Sameach v Kasher!

Miriam Bass
President

Lee Ann Basser
CEO

Why was this night different from all other nights?

It was the night we celebrated our Women's Interfaith Seder, co-hosted with UJEB. We welcomed some 90 women and girls from diverse faiths and cultural and ethnic backgrounds to the Eva Besen Centre. 

Keren Harel-Gordon lead the proceedings inspiring us, sharing interpretations and explanations of the text. The Hall was buzzing with conversation, song and laughter.  

Thanks to the Victorian Multicultural Commission and David Kraus of Kraus foods for their support, and Roquette for catering the dinner.