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Banner year for ‘the Beach’ day camp

CounselorBy SIMONE COHEN SCOTT Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba August 2nd, 2021 Winnipeg Beach Day Camp has come a long way. Around 1953 I was a counselor there, and if memory serves me, it had been founded only a year or two earlier.

KidOver the decades, having enrolled my kids, grand-kids, foster kids, and now a surprise grandchild, (no great-grandchildren yet) I have noted an evolution in style and attitude. Add to that the fact that this year appears to be a bumper year in enrolment (probably due to Covid 19’s lifting of various restrictions on kids playing together), it seems an appropriate time to focus attention on this staple of ‘the Beach’, (once but no longer known as ‘Jew Beach’, due to all other Lake Winnipeg resorts being restricted).

I enrolled my granddaughter Katra, who lives in Vancouver, at the day camp for the full seven weeks. Delivering her each morning I soon noticed the rapid growth in attendance. Parking for drop offs became more challenging. The line-up for temperature checks and hand sanitation every morning grew ‘way beyond the roped off area. But once past that bottleneck, the kids, mask free, could dash, unhampered, into their designated spots under various trees. This year Katra is an ‘intermediate’, re-acquainting with last year’s friends, one from as far away as Toronto.

Jacqui Cohen is the Camp Director, and has been for the past two years. Immediately I was impressed with how efficiently she handled her position. She was the first line of greeting, checking in all the children, welcoming the new ones with comments of reassurance, and recognizing returnees with personalized remarks. A terrific people person I thought, as standing in line with Katra I observed her each morning, but as the weeks progressed and I saw the extent of the camp programming she was handling, intertwined with government regulations, both general and virus necessitated, my esteem soared. Sitting down with her the other day, at a picnic table screened from the rest of the camp by a clump of bushes, I got to know her better. For the past two years Jacqui has been at McGill, studying philosophy. Possibly due to the critical thinking and writing skills she gleaned from these courses, she realized that, for her temperament and life goals. she would be better served by becoming a teacher, and so come this fall, she’ll be taking Education at the University of Winnipeg. A career in teaching will bring her into line with her mother and grandmother, both teachers. (Jacqui’s mother is the ‘other’ Simone Cohen.) Days upon days filled with children is not daunting to Jacqui; her past experience includes four years of BB Camp at Lake of the Woods.

Whether or not day camps would be allowed this year was an up-in-the-air question until almost the last minute. I myself was apprehensive; how would I manage with a six-year old child if I couldn’t leave her somewhere for five hours every week-day? Meanwhile camp organizers were experiencing fluctuating proposed regulations: initially they expected to be able to enrol 25 children, this dropped to 10, then shrunk to none. Despite the uncertainty, management and staff for the camp, including its board, proceeded exactly as if it would be a ‘go’, and so it was. Their faith paid off: activities are well-planned; counselors are well-trained; systems are innovative and run smoothly.

TubbyIn total, 200 children are enrolled for the summer. Beginning the season with 15 participants, by week four there were 71 in attendance, the highest in years. Publicity outreach before the summer included Facebook, notification to schools, and distribution of brochures. Winnipeg Beach Day Camp is attracting participants from further away than the immediate area. Fifteen percent are from Gimli, many from elsewhere in the Interlake, even a few from Matlock. Registration requests included fundraising, as a new building was necessary this year, and projected additional facilities and equipment are in the works. Most donations were in the neighbourhood of $100, with several larger amounts. Appreciation for the camp translated into generosity. They are only a few thousand short of their goal of $15,000. Sale of lunch boxes, T shirts, and baseball caps, were introduced this year. Plans for next year include in person presentations in the schools, if things are back to normal.

Speaking of fundraising, one of the best known features of the camp that has run for years (I can remember it from the ‘50s) is the Penny Carnival. The day of that coin is long gone, but the tradition is fixed; the name has stuck. Instead, for the past several years, strips of tickets have been sold. “Attendance this year was amazing,”says Jacqui. “There were always 100 people on the site.” (Covid restrictions allowed for 150.) This surge was due mostly to word of mouth – parents of course, but also past campers who summer at the Beach and its environs, and have made it an annual outing. Last year’s Covid restrictions prevented the event -the only cancellation ever.

Support from local merchants is strong. Pizza Fridays are a tradition, supplied at a special price by Pizza Place in the town. Between the special price to the camp and the still bargain cost to the campers, the small margin becomes part of the development budget, no doubt for equipment such as the bouncy castle sometimes featured. (Who knew there were such things as bouncy castles?) These last few years Pizza Place has had a vested interest; the owner’s 3 grandchildren participate for the full seven weeks. Until Covid 19, each midsummer Interlake Garden Centre invited the children to a ‘field trip’ at their greenhouses. There, they would be shown various plants and seeds and do a little planting of their own. This year an amended presentation was brought to the campsite, with flowers, pots, and potting soil, tying in with their end of season sale. Beyond participation from the local merchants, for the past five or six years on Ice Cream Day, Eva’s Gelato in Winnipeg has provided ice cream for sale at the camp. Generally, though, fundraising strategies are worked out together with the camp’s board of directors, which Jacqui commends as forming a “very strong team”.

There is a good rapport with the Town, which issues the permit for the camp, as well as with Provincial Parks, technically the locale, which is responsible for many features, for example the camp’s toilet facility. (Much of the Interlake region became a Provincial Park in 1969.) The camp, for its part, is very careful when planning extra events so that they not conflict with those
held in the area, such as Boardwalk Days. There is interaction, too, with Gimli, as occasionally the entire camp will locate for the day in the sprinkler spray park there. Other activities and special days include tie dye day, the Gimli Aquatic Park (before Covid), the bike parade (a tradition)…..and…..and…wait for it…Prairie Exotic…when a fellow brings around assorted creatures such as spiders, snakes, even a hedgehog. I’d skip that day but Jacqui assured me that kids who abhor these critters end up with at least respect for them. A new attraction planned for the near future will be paddle boards, funds permitting, and it seems they will.

Just as my talk with Jacqui was winding up, one of the counsellors, together with a camper, sought her out behind the privacy of the bushes. What transpired boosted even further my confidence in the competence of camp personnel. The student suffers from diabetes and that day could not regulate her system with the remedy she had with her. Jacqui immediately reached the mother on the ‘phone. The symptoms were described; the mother would bring insulin immediately after lunch. Should she eat her lunch, or any of her snacks? Yes, she could if she wanted. The smoothness with which all this was handled was impressive. Jacqui explained to me that as the camp’s intention was to include every child wishing to attend, the pre-opening training sessions readied the personnel for such eventualities. I asked her if she had had to scramble to find last minute counselors as enrollment soared. “No,” she replied, “we established a high ratio of staff to participants at the beginning and were always able to maintain that standard.”

Good job, people!

 

 

 

 

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Long-time Winnipeg doctor and Israeli colleague make medical app available to general public

Dr. Gerald Minuk (left) and Dr. Daniel Iluz-Freundlich

By MYRON LOVE Seven years ago, Dr. Gerald Minuk, Canada’s first hepatologist (liver specialist), partnered with Israeli computer science student Daniel Iluz-Freundlich  in founding Refuah Solutions Ltd (RSL). Their goal was to create an app – which they called PI-enroll (“PI” stands for “Principal Investigator”), which was designed to be used by clinical trial investigators that would save them time and effort so they could be more personally involved in seeing their trial patients.
Last month, they released their second app, this time for patients. The app, called  Patient-empower, informs patients about clinical trials underway for their condition and helps them make an informed decision as to which trial best meets their specific needs and preferences.
“I was approaching retirement,” recalls Minuk, now Rady School of Medicine Professor Emeritus, who has been in practice in Winnipeg since 1987, and “I couldn’t see myself filling my days doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku.  I wanted to be able to continue contributing to medical research and patient care.”
It just so happened that, at the time, Minuk was introduced to an Israeli student, Daniel Iluz-Freundlich, who had just finished studying Computer Sciences at the University of Winnipeg. (Minuk notes that Iluz-Freundlich – on graduating – received the Gold Medal in Computer Science.)
“Daniel is an exceptionally talented young man,” Minuk says.  “So I tapped his computer programming skills to create our PI-enroll and subsequently, our Patient-empower apps.”
The friendship continued after Iluz-Freundlich returned to Israel in 2020 to begin medical school on a Phil and Elle Kives Scholarship, where he earned numerous honors. Iluz-Freundlich is currently an intensivist anesthesiologist at the Beilinson Hospital in Israel. Despite his new professional responsibilities, including caring for IDF forces wounded in Gaza– he has remained active with Refuah – as vice-president of the company.
Minuk adds that a dozen other senior professors of medicine also contributed to Refuah’s software design.  “Together,” he reports,  “the company represents 400+ years of clinical trial experience. That experience is being applied to identifying and addressing the major challenges investigators and patients face when conducting or participating in clinical trials.”`       
He adds that Refuah Solutions has established a truly global network with company personnel in San Diego, São Paulo, Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Nairobi and Delhi thus far.
According to Minuk,  the company has enjoyed worldwide success – with over 2,000 doctors in 40 countries and 50 drug companies signed on for the PI-enroll app. He attributes this success to the app’s impressive results. In a recent global clinical trial, Minuk reports,  within 3-6 months of implementing PI-enroll, investigator personal involvement increased by 60% and with that, patient enrolment increased by 80%, patient drop-outs decreased by 50% and there were 20% fewer protocol deviations (mistakes made). In addition, 90% of PIs rated the App 8 out of 10 in terms of usefulness.
He adds that one site that had not enrolled any patients for 12 months, subsequently became the trial’s leading enrolment site.
Regarding the newly released Patient-empower app,  Minuk notes that despite the many benefits patients derive from clinical trials including free and early access to new and often safer and more effective treatments, fewer than 10% of patients who would qualify for a clinical trial are ever invited to consider that option. “The problem,” he explains, “is that most Health Care Providers are either unaware of what clinical trials are underway in their area or if they are aware, don’t have the time to discuss the trials with their patients.”
Therefore, Minuk, Iluz-Freundlich and their team designed and recently released their second app – Patient-empower – which informs patients of what clinical trials are underway for their condition and empowers them to select the trial that prioritizes their needs over those of industry.
The platform, he explains, uses AI to generate concise, easy-to-understand summaries of clinical trials tailored to the patient’s location—city, state, country, or globally, depending on their preference. Each summary includes clear explanations of the patient eligibility criteria and key practical details, such as the likelihood of patients receiving a placebo, the number of required site visits, and other important practical considerations. It also suggests questions that patients should consider asking the investigator before they consent to enrolling. The trial information is presented in a shareable format to facilitate discussions with family, friends, and local healthcare providers—supporting both patient confidence and continuity of care.
Once a trial is selected, Minuk continues, Patient-empower provides the contact information for the trial investigator closest to the patient’s location, the trial’s sponsor and, where available, the world’s experts in the field.
The feature Minuk is most enthusiastic about is the “Recent Findings” page which keeps patients up to date on newly published clinical trial results and discoveries relevant to their condition. 
“Patient-empower is available to patients from internet venues (App Store or Google Play) or through NFP organizations, associations, societies and patient support group web-sites,” he adds. “Although only recently released, we have already attracted interest from the American Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer’s Society of America, the Canadian Liver Foundation, Colorectal Cancer Canada, the American Myasthenia Gravis Society and many others.”
“Overall, Patient-empower informs patients, and more informed patients benefit everyone involved. After all, it’s the patient’s health; their voice should be heard,” Minuk concludes.

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The South Seas come to the Asper Campus

Pacific Island dance team with members of the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble

By MYRON LOVE On Thursday, July 24, about 150 members of our Jewish community got a chance to sample the dance and music of the South Pacific. The event was billed as “Beyachad Together – Celebrating Indigeneity, land, culture and identity.”

Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble

The program featured both the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble dancers and Steinbach-based Island Breeze Manitoba – which describes itself as “a high energy live band & Pacific Island dance team featuring authentic outfits and dances from the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand.”

According to Dr. Ruth Ashrafi, Regional Director of B’nai Brith Canada in Manitoba, the evening’s performance was connected to  an Indigenous Peoples Conference that was held in Steinbach under the auspices of Island Breeze with participants from Canada, the United States (specifically Hawaii), Antigua and Bermuda in the Caribbean, South Africa, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific island countries of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Tonga.   

Pacific Island dance team


 “The conference organizers contacted B’nai Brith Canada,” Ashrafi reported.  “They wanted to bring greetings to the Jewish community, as the indigenous people of the Land of Israel, and celebrate indigeneity together through dance and music.
 “Their support in these difficult times is heartwarming.”
 
 In her opening remarks as emcee for the evening, Ashrafi noted that “it is a great honour for the Jewish community to welcome so many indigenous guests from all over the world.”
 She then related the story and miracle of Chanukah and connected it to the experience shared by many indigenous nations around the world.
“They have been told that their religion is wrong, their traditions are not sophisticated,” she pointed out, “just as the Jews of that time were told by the Greek rulers that our religion was wrong and our traditions were outdated.
“Here in Canada, the First Nations were forced into Residential Schools to learn Canadian ways. The manner in which they were taught in these schools was abusive and horrific. Many children died, and many more were scarred for life.
“As with the Maccabbees,” she continued, “courageous individuals have stood up and fought for rights of their indigenous brothers and sisters. They had to overcome a lot of resistance and other obstacles. Indigenous peoples are still over-represented in the Canadian prison system and social services.
 “The story of Chanukah tells us that it is okay to be different from the majority culture,” she said, and “that special and unique traditions are important and worth preserving.
 “The story of Chanukah also teaches us that fighting for our rights is not easy,” Ashrafi added. “We may be a tiny minority and the other side may be much more numerous, better organized and equipped. But if we take the first step, like deciding to use that little jar of oil (that burned in the Temple for weight days even though there was only a day’s supply), we will be helped along the way.”
 
 
“We put the Menorah in our front window,” she noted, “so that the light is shining into the dark winter nights. We want to share the story of the Chanukah miracle and we want to bring light into a world that has still so much darkness in it.”
Ashrafi’s words were followed by greetings from David Harper, a former Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief who spoke glowingly of his visit to Israel in  2014.
“Our faith teaches us that the People of Israel are the people of the Bible and we must bless them and pray for them,” he said.  “My people have a lot to learn from the people of Israel about healing the land.”
Next, Ashrafi introduced Pastor Roger Armbruster whom, she described, as the man behind the vision for the evening.  Armbruster, a strong Christian Zionist supporter of Israel, is the founder of Canada Awakening Ministries.
 
She said of Armbruster that “it is a privilege to be his friend. I have learned so much from you.”
 
 According to Armbruster’s bio on the Canada Awakening Ministries website, “his life has been dedicated to a ministry of reconciliation, and of building bridges between cultures, nations, denominations and generations. He sees cross-cultural reconciliation as a key to making disciples of all nations, and in seeing God’s House become a House of Prayer for all nations.
 
“As director of Canada Awakening Ministries, he is a leader in facilitating Native-Non-native reconciliation, and in restoring the indigenous peoples of the land to reflect that part of God’s image that He has deposited in them in their sounds, songs, praise and dances.”
 
Armbruster attended the Inaugural World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People in New Zealand in November 1996 as well as gatherings in Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1998, northern Sweden in 2005, and Israel in 2008.  In his remarks, he noted that he has visited Israel numerous times over the years – often leading tour groups representing  Canadian Inuit, Greenlandic Inuit and Manitoba First Nations at the northern ends of the earth, along with Maori, Fijians and Samoans from the southern ends of the earth – back to the City of Jerusalem from where the original gospel message first came. 
“In Israel,” Armbruster said, “these Indigenous People have shared their language, their culture and their faith with both Jewish and Palestinian audiences alike.  In one Israeli community, they even shared a message that brought hope to a joint audience of some 500 people that included both Jews and Arabs coming together.”
The dance part of the program was emceed by Isi Masi of Island Breezes. The musical program included several Hawaiian dances, including a rousing foot-stomping number,followed by performances featuring Hawaiian song and gentle movement.  The final part of the island dances concluded with a brief Maori war chant.
(The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.)
The final part of the program included several high octave dances by our own – always outstanding – Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble, with all the performers singing “We Shall Overcome” and the audience invited to join in a round of Israel dancing. 

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Israeli-born realtor believes in paying it forward

By MYRON LOVE When Hofit Yanev and her husband, Stefan, first arrived in Winnipeg in May 2013, they knew no one here.
 
“We were looking for a safer environment in which to raise our children,” she recalls. “We thought that would be Canada, and Winnipeg seemed to be the most welcoming Jewish community.”
 
Despite not knowing anybody, on their first morning in our community they found that someone had left a challah on their doorstep. That was a small kindness that she has never forgotten. She is a strong believer in paying it forward. Ever since then, she notes, she has made sure to greet newcomers in our community with a challah.
 
Helping others – whether to buy and sell their homes or manage their money – is a principal focus of the thriving career she has built up here as a real estate agent and insurance adviser.
 
Sales has always been Hofit Yanev’s strong suit. Originally from Holon (near Tel Aviv), she began her sales career right after her army duty. Her first venture was selling Dead Sea and hair care products. (Some readers may remember the kiosks that used to be set up at some Winnipeg shopping centres some years back.) She worked a year in Chicago and four years in Miami before returning to Israel, where she met and married Stefan.
 
Soon after settling in Winnipeg, Hofit found work in sales, initially for an HVAC company (while Stefan became a long-distance truck driver and now operates Excellence Fences and Decks). “As I was doing very well in sales for this company,” she recounts, “after taking time following the birth of our third child, I decided to try selling houses.”
 
She secured her real estate license and went to work. After 18 months of trying, she was still struggling to make a go of it.
 
“I lacked experience,” she recalls. “I reached a point where I was ready to give up and go back to selling HVAC products.”
 
However, on what she thought would be her last day, she received two calls that revitalized her hopes. In quick succession, she recounts, she got a call from a former customer who wanted her to sell his house and a new customer who wanted her help in selling his house and buying another.
 
“I took it as a sign from God,” she says.
 
Today, eight years later, Yanev, working under the eXp Realty banner, oversees an operation with over 20 agents—nine of whom are on her team and the others working under her in the eXp umbrella.
 
“I achieved my dream,” she notes, “and I want to help others – either those looking to buy a home or fellow realtors starting out – to realize their dreams as well.”
 
She notes that she strives to understand what her clients’ needs are and provide the right homes for them. She reports that 70% of her real estate clients are members of our Jewish community. She deals with commercial as well as residential properties and adds that she also helps clients with long- and short-term rentals as well as car rentals.
 
About a year ago, she notes, she added another entry to her resumé – that of insurance adviser. “As a realtor, I could see how some people are struggling financially,” she says. “I wanted to help.”
 
As an insurance adviser, she works with single mothers, seniors, and others plagued by financial difficulty. “I advise clients on how to get out of financial trouble, how to save 10% of their net income, and build their savings.”
 
She makes it clear that she keeps a distinct separation between her real estate clients and her insurance clients.
 
Now, you would think that an individual working two careers – with five kids to raise (all of whom are enrolled in Jewish educational programs) – would have her hands full. Nonetheless, Yanev has a third avocation – that of a social events planner for fellow Israelis in Winnipeg and other Hebrew speakers.
 
“For the past six years,” she reports, “I have been producing five programs a year in our community for Hebrew speakers. No one else was doing it, and I felt that it was important for Israelis here to be able to connect with each other.”
 
She adds that the family-oriented programs have been “super successful.” “We have had as many as 300 people at some of our programs.”
 
Yanev believes that her success story can inspire other newcomers to Winnipeg. “If you are prepared to work hard, you can achieve your dream,” she says.
 
She also expresses gratitude to our Jewish community. “We have found the community here to be welcoming and supportive,” she says. “It is thanks to you that we have been successful. This really is friendly Manitoba.”

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