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Alumni of the Month: Marian and Randy Pinsky

Marian and Randy Pinsky The majority of my Bialik educational career (1995-2000) overlapped with that of our January 2010 co-alumni of the month, Randy and Marian Pinsky (1996-2001). It is with this in mind that I can genuinely write that these identical twins have been trying to “heal the world” ever since they first knew what the idea meant. Graduates from that era or perhaps other close followers of Bialik may recall that the internationally renowned advocate for ending child labour, and himself the founder of the organization Kids Can Free The Children, Craig Kielburger, spoke at Bialik in 2001 as a result of the Pinsky’s relentless fundraising and campaigning for the cause. The girls' having tasted success by raising the community’s consciousness of that issue, we could tell that there was so much more to come from them.

Helping victims of injustice on the other side of the world was one thing, but the sisters realized that there was plenty to be done locally as well. Along came The Starburst Entertainers. In the words of Marian Pinsky, “We’re a group of friends that regularly performs benefit concerts in senior residences, entertaining lonely seniors, and at the same time, always fundraising for a number of different causes. Since 2000, the group has evolved a lot, with musicians and dancers (my sisters help choreograph and perform tap dance trios), and we’ve even had a magician join our group of dynamic performers!” Marian explained that the idea for the entertaining troupe came to light as a result of performing annual birthday concerts for their zaida. They figured that if they enjoyed entertaining so much, why not just add a fundraising component and accomplish more? According to Marian, they have organized well over 100 benefit concerts and events, helping a plethora of organizations, including the Jewish National Fund, Magen David Adom, and victims of Hurricane Katrina.

As the sisters have matured, so have their ideas. Last summer, they co-organized a successful public workshop series with the Social Justice Committee of Montreal on the subjects of Third World debt and social activism. Titled “Responses to the Global Economic Crisis and Its Impacts in the Third World,” the series was highly interactive, and audience discussion and participation was encouraged. From holding corporations accountable, following the release of a case study that revealed certain Canadian mining companies’ complacency in human rights violations, to a detailed discussion on Third World debt, there was plenty of learning going on.

Since this workshop was billed as “sustainability and social justice in action,” it stands to reason that these intrepid girls would ensure that what was advertised was delivered. The conference was as sustainable as possible, using reusable dishes from Sustainable Concordia (they laboured until midnight in a deserted building, washing them with their team, with cloth towels, absolutely no paper); moreover, the food was catered by the Share the Warmth community kitchen that served only fair trade hot beverages. Randy continued, “We also coordinated a fundraising raffle to enable similar Social Justice Conferences to take place in the future where our supporters were carefully selected on their adherence to development and social economy principles. These included Ten Thousand Villages, Vive la Différence, the Concordia Co-op Bookstore and Le Frigo Vert (supplying local and organic food).”

You may be wondering what the Pinsky sisters do when they aren’t volunteering their time. Marian is currently working with a research group with Concordia’s Sociology Department called the Global Futures Laboratory, specifically, the Transition Project, which is researching the viability of social economy by way of conducting interviews with different Montreal community organizations.

“I am really intrigued by India, as it exhibits a diversity of innovative, often women-led initiatives in response to the food crisis. I’m interested in looking at alternatives and responses to attempts at the corporate control of food and the efforts to regain food security and even food sovereignty,” Marian elaborated.

Randy is on her way to completing her second bachelor’s degree, with an Honours in Political Science. She wants to focus her studies on the fields of human rights, international development, and peace building. She would love to build on her wonderful experiences as an intern at the Quebec Regional office of B’nai Brith.

To be sure, these girls have not devoted their lives to these causes because of the accolades; however, this article would not be complete without bringing to light the fact that, in the summer of 2009, Marian and Randy Pinsky were recognized with the Lieutenant-Governor Youth Medal for academic achievement, community activism, and youth leadership. Wow!

As I finish writing this piece, and peruse Marian’s research website, http://globalfutures.concordia.ca/test55442237/Laboratory/Members.html, it’s quite striking how little I was previously aware of these specific global challenges. And while some fine people are hard at work searching for answers, there’s so much room for everyone to play their small part. Now, just how do these issues get a universal buy-in? That’s food for thought.

David Smajovits '00