On Sunday, August 13, we are having our annual TAS Sisterhood Leadership training at the Temple.  Board members should attend, of course, and even though you are not a member of the board, you are invited to participate as well.  We will be setting goals for the coming year and we welcome your input on what Sisterhood's priorities should be for the coming year.  
We will provide a light breakfast at 8:30am, and the day will start promptly at 9am. Lunch is on us and we expect to wrap up around 3pm.  
We have planned a day with a lot of variety and activities - you will not be sitting and listening to someone lecture for 6 hours!  Topics include "Why Sisterhood?" and "What is our mission?" and "How can we ensure our programs further our mission?"  Please reply to this message and tell us you plan to attend and help us make Sisterhood the best it can be!
On the theme of leadership, we give you this cute cartoon:

Three weeks ago, we sent you an email describing our Donor program and how we track the hours and money that Sisterhood members invest into Ways & Means, and Religious Observance events. We described what kinds of things earn Donor hours and how, if a Sisterhood member earns enough Donor, she can attend a lunch at the end of the year for free.

Other temples don't track volunteer hours.  They have a big lunch at the end of the year, but everyone pays to attend.  Some Sisterhood members object to tracking volunteer hours because it makes it too much like paid employment and not all the volunteer hours are captured.  Consequently, there is ongoing discussion of trying a different system.  We would still have a big lunch at the end of the year where our board would be installed and volunteers would be recognized.  However, instead of being recognized for the number of trackable hours recorded for them, women would be recognized for each event or activity they helped plan, setup, or cleanup. What do you think of this idea? 

We look forward to hearing your input!

The free shipping deadline has been extended until Friday, so if you are interested in sending a 8oz jar of Kosher Clover Honey to family or a friend in the US you can still get free shipping.  Jars of honey will arrive just before Rosh Hashonah.  Shipped jars cost $11 per jar.  Once the free shipping deadline has passed, shipping is $4.
You can also send our Temple clergy and office professional staff wishes for a sweet and happy New Year for just $5 a wish.  Our Temple clergy and staff each get a jar of honey along with a card with names and of the families sending them "honey wishes."  No shipping on honey wishes!
If you want, you can email the form back to me (don't email credit card info) and then turn in payment to the Temple.

We have two planning meetings this week, the Program meeting on Wednesday and the Membership meeting on Thursday.  Both are at 7pm.  If you have ideas for Programs you would like to see, please join us at the Program meeting.  If you have ideas on how the Membership committee should reach out to current and new members, please come to the Membership meeting.  
We have moved the location of the Program meeting to Karen Pelmont's house, 9618 Quartz Avenue, Chatsworth.  Karen's phone number is 818-349-0407
The Membership meeting is at Jennifer Kosoy's house, 18522 Germain St., Northridge.  Her phone number is 818-217-4191. 
If you are thinking about attending either meeting, we would love it if you would reply to this message, so we can make sure we have enough chairs for everyone.
If you have great ideas and can't attend, reply to this message and let us know your thoughts. 
On a completely different note, (look! different color!) Area Day was today.  Jackie took notes on everything that happened, but her write up is four pages long, so that's NOT going in an email!  So she wrote up a *short* summary.  But even that is over a page.  So instead of sending that our via email, she posted it on her blog.  So if you are interested in reading about what happened at Area Day, got to www.ityfaq.com - if you were at Area Day and find mistakes in what she wrote, let her know - She was working fast to get everything up in time for this email.
We sign off today with this quote:
Here's to strong women.
May we know them.
May we be them.
May we raise them.

Sisterhood believes that it is important to recognize those who help raise the money that makes all of our programs and mitzvot possible.  The first step in recognizing those who contribute is knowing who pitched in.  Our Donor program tracks the time and money that Sisterhood members invest into Ways & Means, and also into religious observance events.  The goal of the donor program is to involve as many members as possible in raising funds for Sisterhood and making religious observance events happen.
The Donor program gives members donor credit for hours volunteered and for direct donations.  Donor credit is measured in "Donor dollars."  A Donor is earned when a member has contributed $80 worth of time or money to Sisterhood fundraising projects.  At the end of the year, there is a Donor luncheon where the women who have earned Donor credit are recognized.  Anyone who has earned a Donor can attend the luncheon for free.  In addition, for each additional Donor earned, they can bring a non-Sisterhood member.
Luncheon guests are restricted to non-Sisterhood members to encourage all Sisterhood members to earn Donor.  Officers do not earn Donor credit for fulfilling the obligations of their Sisterhood positions. However, any member who works at a Sisterhood fundraising event or project will
earn Donor credit.
What earns Donor?  Examples include direct donations; working fund-raising events like the Holiday Boutique, Mah Jongg Tournament, or Bingotini; staffing our Judaica Shop; working oneg, extended kiddush, or the Sisterhood seder;  food preparation for extended kiddush or providing baked goods for the Boutique Bake sale.  Pretty much anything that helps Sisterhood raise money, or helps with religious observance events.
This what our Donor program is now.  The Board is currently discussing what the donor program should be like in the future.
Went looking for humor about volunteers, and it was all terrible.  So this email has quotes instead:
Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer. ~Author Unknown
Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless.  ~Sherry Anderson 
It's easy to make a buck.  It's a lot tougher to make a difference.  ~Tom Brokaw
Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.  ~Elizabeth Andrew
- Liked this one best:
We are all M.A.D.* here.    (*Making A Difference)