Gail Adelson '77

Alumna of the Month

With a stated mission “To engage, educate and energize Jewish women of Montreal to mobilize their collective financial and social resources in order to strengthen the Jewish people in Montreal, Israel, and around the world,” Woman’s Philanthropy is a new brand for Women’s Federation , Combined Jewish Appeal. Self defined as “a sisterhood of women united by acts of kindness and generosity dedicated to ensuring the continuity and vitality of our Jewish community,” it should come as no surprise that the President of said organization is a Bialik graduate.

“It is our turn,” said Gail Adelson-Marcovitz ‘77, President of Woman’s Philanthropy, as she explained the impetus for the reorganization saying, “There’s a new generation of women that we must reach out to.” JPPS-Bialik’s June Alumna of the Month is no stranger to causes of a Tikkun Olam nature. An attorney by profession, Gail has spent the better part of the past 20 years working in the community. Taking a quick glance at her volunteering CV, so to speak, one notices that Gail has chaired the Young Leadership Campaign for the CJA, she has chaired Promontreal and she is currently a vice president of the Executive Committee of Federation CJA. Moreover, Gail sits on the Finance and Audit Committee at the Jewish General Hospital and has served as table captain chair of the Israel Cancer Research Fund’s Women of Action. She is also a Vice President on the executive of Camp B’nai Brith.

With all the hard work she has put in over the years, the accolades also followed. Gail was the recipient of the Gertrude & Henry Plotnick Young Leadership Award in 2000, she also brought home the President’s Award for Volunteer of the Year by Camp B’nai Brith in 2004 and received the Minnie Cummings Abbey Award from Federation CJA in 2009.

“Hands on volunteering is critical and every gift is important,” Gail added when describing programs overseen by the Woman’s Philanthropy’s Tikkun Olam Volunteers (T.O.V.) initiative. Tikkun Olam Volunteers deliver the food from The Good Food Box to shut ins. The Good Food Box is a city-wide project that provides fresh fruits and vegetables at reduced rates, The Good Food Box purchases the produce in bulk and redistributes it at cost, therefore allowing people to take advantage of the savings. It is particularly appealing to the vulnerable members of the community. Other vital programs include the Meals on Wheels initiative which benefits seniors and Le Café, a cafeteria that serves over 550 weekly meals at the Cummings Centre for Jewish Seniors.

As part of the contingent representing the first ever classes of Bialik high school, Gail fondly remembers her time at the school, telling me that “Bialik instilled the right values in me; it’s a testament to the school.” While Gail’s volunteer work certainly embodies a spirit for people to emulate, she did clue me in on a humorous Bialik-related story from her past. When Gail was at McGill University, she, like countless others, searched for a class that would permit her to get an “A”, without much effort. She reasoned that taking a Yiddish class was the ticket. As fate would have it, the professor ended up being none other than Leib Tenzer, the legendary figure at JPPS-Bialik, who of course understood what Gail was trying to accomplish. “This class isn’t for you, maydele,” he said.

For more information on Woman’s Philanthropy, or to get involved yourself, please visit: http://www.federationcja.org/en/who/womens+philanthropy/

David Smajovits ‘00

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