Although it was evening and darkness enveloped Herzliya’s Gordon School, inside the foyer was brightly lit and filled with people. They chatted together in small groups, embraced old friends, munched on delicate sandwiches and cakes from the buffet and waited for the festivities to begin. It was December 23, 2007 and ESRA once again met to honor outstanding volunteers and to review the contributions of time, effort and concern for others that are the basis of our organization.

          Our volunteers this year are a diverse group: they originally came from Canada, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Israel, Rhodesia, South Africa and the United States and have settled in Caesarea, Herzliya, Kalmaniya, Kfar Saba, Netanya, Raanana, and Rehovot.

          These volunteers have been honored for a variety of contributions to ESRA: graphic design, renovation work, tutoring English, working in the Book Shop and Nearly New Shop, writing for ESRA MAGAZINE, befriending, running the Photography Club, work in offices, activity in the Program Committee, leadership in the branches, volunteering on the Welfare Committee, volunteering at the Bayit Cham Club for teenage girls in Netanya, professional work in training volunteer coordinators, and volunteering with teenagers

          These volunteers are the essence of ESRA. It is their commitment, their caring and their willingness to share their interests and talents with others that brought them to this moment, together with friends, family and other ESRA members, to receive thanks in the name of all those whose lives they touched in the process of volunteering for ESRA.

          The structure and relationships in volunteering and the motivation for volunteering in ESRA were the themes of our two learned and professional speakers of the evening, Merle Guttmann, ESRA’s founder and Honorary Life President, examined the motivation of volunteers in general and ESRA volunteers in particular. She asked: “What attracts people who live in Israel for many years and are fully integrated professionally and socially, to volunteer in ESRA, an English speaking organization?” Merle believes that it is because ESRA is a well-respected organization with an excellent reputation and it is known as a volunteer organization which recognizes the value of volunteers and knows how to activate them. In addition, English speakers choose ESRA because they can perform in English, which makes them feel more comfortable amongst English speakers who come from a similar cultural milieu with similar behavioral patterns and value systems.

          Our second speaker, Zvia Sharp, spoke on “Volunteers – to manage or not to manage” and delivered an erudite analysis of organizations’ management of volunteers and the complex relationships among volunteers and staff members. She spoke of individual needs and the importance of meeting these needs in a volunteer organization, and of motivating and maintaining volunteers.

          Complementing the presentation of these interesting and important issues were interludes of suspense and song. Three winning tickets were drawn from the beautifully decorated raffle box and the lucky winners will soon be off to Prague, Eilat, and the spa, knowing that “ESRA works” but also plays. In addition, ESRA sings, and this evening Rachi Guttman’s beautiful voice led us in a wonderful program of songs in many languages, some old favorites and some new treasures.

          Additional thanks are due to those ESRA members who  the volunteer evening possible: Liz Trakeniski, our charming and witty Mistress of Ceremonies, who, together with Adele Hunter, Adele Rubin and Phyllis Bloch served on the organizing committee; and our most capable catering committee who provided the wonderful and attractively arranged refreshments.

          This evening, when ESRA met to honor outstanding volunteers, was a time of great pride for all of us who are associated with ESRA.

Debby Lieberman is Chairperson of ESRA.