Left to right, Debbie Heilpern, Aimée Schnitzer, Janna Boloten, and Stephannie Davies improve the quality of life of Jewish Eldercare residents.

Israel experience alumni contribute to the community
The Bronfman Israel Experience Centre (BIEC) creates opportunities for alumni of its programs to fulfill their desire to become involved with hands-on volunteering. One recent example was Social Action Montreal, where thirty young adults contributed to a variety of community services, including the Meals on Wheels program at Maimonides Geriatric Hospital, the MADA Community Centre, and Jewish Eldercare Centre, where Debbie Heilpern is offering beauty treatments and manicures to patients on a regular basis.
The extraordinary opportunities that BIEC offers teens and young adults to visit Israel succeed in fostering deep personal connections to the Jewish homeland and community. Its programs are intended to awaken Jewish identity, stoke curiosity about Jewish history, inspire interest in Jewish culture, and create affiliations with our Jewish community in Montreal.
In Debbie’s case, she was moved to help the elderly, saying, “It seems as though the elderly are under-appreciated in our society, so I just wanted to do something that would show them appreciation and enrich their lives.”
An experienced makeup artist, Heilpern was excited about the chance to do something that would make the residents at Eldercare feel better and, at the same time, offer them companionship, a quality too often missing from their lives. Because the treatments involve such personal interaction, she expects that strong relationships will emerge. Heilpern, a 23-year-old who will soon be starting medical school, traces her interest in volunteer work to her Jewish upbringing and education, saying they have been greatly enhanced by her Israel experiences.
“I give a lot of credit to my grandparents, who taught me the importance of Jewish traditions and a strong sense of community,” she explains. “My Jewish day school education reinforced that, and in Israel, I’ve seen things that I had learned being implemented, and saw our culture being practiced. I just truly identified with Israel’s strength and the Israeli mentality.”
In 2000, she participated on a Bialik High School trip and in 2004 she was part of a BIEC machanayim leadership training program. Just recently, she completed her madrich (chaperone) training and will soon lead a Taglit – birthright israel group.
“My 2004 trip had a huge impact on me,” she says. “I fell in love with the whole idea of contributing to a greater good and giving back to our community.” BIEC works hard to tap into this aroused desire for community service by facilitating volunteerism. Many of those who participated in Social Action Montreal, like Debbie, are continuing as volunteers on their own initiative. Some deliver for Meals on Wheels, while others are preparing packages for the food bank at MADA.
GEN J, the community-wide initiative on Jewish identity and continuity, is planning to tap into the enthusiasm of young volunteers by developing new ideas for giving back.

The Bronfman Israel Experience Centre is a program of the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre (BJEC). It received an allocation of close to $850,000 from FEDERATION CJA in 2008-2009, which was over and above the more than $3.75 million it allocated to BJEC.

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