Message from our YMD Co-Chairmen Jake Kaufman & Larry M. Schnaid
This past year, 2009, was a truly special year for The Guardians’ Young Men’s Division. First, we want to give credit where it is due; this year has been a pleasure for us and a success because of the amazing people on our Board. As a group, we hit every one of our goals.
We grew our membership by more than 400%!
We sold out every event that we hosted from June through December including both our Summer Party and our newest, 2nd Annual 12-24 Ball.
We transformed our Annual Poker Tournament from a small membership event into a huge tournament and more than tripled both the attendance & money raised.
We strengthened the fraternal nature of the organization with Scotch and Cigar Night and other Membership and Member Only events.
We focused on making our Board Meetings not only productive, but fun and excellent business networking opportunities.
Most satisfying of all, in spite of a challenging economy, together with the support of our Members, the “Big Board”, our friends and family, almost every Young Division event raised more money for The Guardians of the Jewish Home for the Aging than it did the year before!
We are honored and excited by this momentum and we know just what to do with it – we have set bold new goals for 2010. First, we are working actively with our “Big Board” to build a strong bridge for our experienced or senior Young Division Board Members to move into leadership roles within the organization as a whole. On February 4, we kicked off our Mentorship Program, led by Joshua P. Binder and Marvin Jubas, at Brentwood Country Club. Next, our VP of Events Jeff Schlesinger and his team are actively building committees and planning for Poker, Golf, Summer Party and the 12-24 Ball to be even bigger than they were in 2009. Our VP of Activities, Brad Holcman will organize a Shabbat Dinner, Father and Son Day, Softball Team and a number of Brotherhood events throughout the Year. Our VPs of Membership – Tony Berns (New Membership) and Bryan Weismann (Membership Retention) have big shoes to fill in Guardians’ Director Kevin Friedman's success last year, but they are the perfect guys for the job and we expect to grow significantly in 2010. Orin Aminoff, VP of Communications is helping us be more effective and efficient in reaching out to both our base and prospective members. Finally, our Treasurer Ross Gerber is strengthening our financial reporting to ensure we remain on-track with our specific financial goals in raising funds for the Jewish Home.
Please feel free to contact Jake Kaufman or Larry M. Schnaid at any time to discuss ideas, ask questions or to simply check in and ask "what's the latest?"
Thank you for your support in 2009 and we look for your continued support in 2010! Please turn to page 4 for a complete list of the 2010 YMD Board!
Your YMD Co-Chairman,
Jake Kaufman and Larry Schnaid |
