Notes from our Volunteer Coordinator and Volunteer Committee introducing our first Volunteer Column in ESRAmagazine and highlighting different aspects of ESRA Volunteering
DID YOU KNOW?
ESRA has 757 active volunteers working in 21 categories in many cities and towns from Eilat in the south to Jordan Valley in the north.
ESRAmagazine, which affords so much pride and pleasure to many, is put together by hundreds of ESRA volunteers
Magazine Facts and Figures
1 Editor
75 Writers in each edition
20 Editorial Board members
10 Column Editors
3 Illustrators
3 Photographers
8 Proofreaders
8 Magazine Office & Website volunteers
5 Distribution Coordinators
5 Distribution Phoners
21 Magazine Packers
272 Distributors
6,000 copies of each issue of the magazine are printed and distributed in 40 towns is Israel.
2,000 of these are hand-delivered
40 copies are posted to members/supporters abroad
The magazine also appears online.
Today we highlight the contribution of: The Editor and Founder, Merle Guttmann
Merle Guttmann was the founder of ESRA some 40 years ago. Merle ran ESRA, voluntarily, from its inception in 1979 until 2001. She was Chairperson from 1979 until 1981 and then again in 1983. She was Honorary President from 1985 until 2001 and has been Honorary Life President since 2001.
Under her leadership the organization took root and flourished, reaching its position today of being the largest English-speaking volunteer organization in the country.
The magazine which Merle edits today was started by her as a two page 'roneod' newsletter for ESRA. Under Merle's guidance and with her vision of its potential, today it is a glossy, 108 page publication, and full of interest to a wide readership, giving a taste of life and living in Israel, and a feeling of belonging. A tool for keeping English-speakers and ESRA members and supporters informed of ESRA's diverse multitude of activities in the educational, cultural and social spheres, it encapsulates ESRA's spirit and actions. It is a community magazine which affords people the opportunity to write and be published, to contribute and to share their expertise and experience in variegated fields. In many ways it is the flagship of the organization. It has a highly professional Editorial Board, whose members have been hand-picked by Merle over all the years.
It is ESRA's largest volunteer project.
Sharona Bick is ESRA's Volunteer Coordinator