Community Connections – Gesher

Sonia Newell – Development Officer

B’nai B’rith/JNF Changemaker Awards 2019

It is never too early to start promoting the 2019 Changemaker Awards. This annual program recognises the volunteer work of many younger members of our community. Planning for next year’s event in June (date to be confirmed) started immediately following this year’s Awards Night which was held on 21 June. We would love you to start thinking about possible nominees for next year in each of the two groups: Youth – High School students and Young Adults, aged 18 to 35. I feel immensely proud to volunteer on the organising committee and also help with nominations of Emanuel past and present students for these prestigious awards. Past winners from our School community include alumnus Jeremy Spinak (Class of 2000) who tragically passed away two weeks ago aged 36, from a rare cancer. Jeremy won the 2015 B’nai B’rith Leadership Award for the vast array of volunteer work he did both within in our community and the wider Australian community, including in his role as President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. In 2016 Emanuel alumnus Nathan Holloway (Class of 2004) was joint winner for his contribution to the Jewish Community. This year’s winners included Matt Friedman (Class of 2015) and current Year 7 student Coby New, with a number of other very worthy nominees from our student and alumni community over the years.

Jeremy Spinak and Ernie Friedlander OAM

We would love to see nominations come through for next year, so please start thinking about suitable candidates for the various categories which include:

Youth section (High School):