I have had some wacky dreams. In fact, they have been a little scary so I hope they aren’t prophecies but just a reflection of my anxiety.
I know I look and act calm but my dreams are more telling. Our gala for JICNY, www.jicny.com, is coming up in just 10 days. The JICNY is a not-for-profit organization reaching out to international Jews in NYC. I was adamant that there had to be a better way to raise money than to host a gala. Eventually, I acquiesced and five weeks before I decided to do a gala. This is our 7th gala so experience helps. However, it is a lot of work and my part-time program coordinator recently had a baby.
There is a lot resting on this gala. We’ve had a disastrous 12 months. We had a bookkeeper who claimed she paid taxes and workers compensation, etc. She did not. We came back from summer vacation to open a letter from the workers’ comp office telling us we owe $139,000 dollars. Nice surprise, especially when directors of non-profits are personally liable. My husband worked on the issue for about 100 hours and, with the help of a politician, it was reduced to $464. Whew! Then came letters from the tax office where our bookkeeper had filed incorrect amounts. Soon after, a donation was stopped. Apparently, we had no 501 3 c status — our not-for-profit status was revoked. Another 20 hours on the phone revealed that the IRS had made a clerical error and it was reversed. I then received a call from a board member at Manhattan Day School warning me the community would bring me and my organization to its knees. To clarify, I advocate for my special needs daughter to be included in the Jewish day school that her siblings attend (check out www.facebook.com/cailysworld) and, along with other threats, they challenge the existence of the JICNY. Many of the wealthy West Side families who usually contribute to my organization withheld funds. So we have been just hanging on.
We started the JICNY 10 years ago with a dinner for South Africans living in New York. It’s run by me, Gavin, and a friend, Steve Eisenberg as volunteers. We have one part-time paid person. Last year, we had 223 events that over 10,000 people from 42 countries attended. We just celebrated our 74th engagement (ie: a couple who met through JICNY and got engaged). I work about 40 hours a week for JICNY plus I run Metroimma.com and jdeal.com. There is no pay for JICNY, just the pleasure of building and giving.
Now, my dreams:
In one version, I gave the speech at the gala and when the lights came on there was no-one there. In another dream, we had decided to change the location of the event but forgot to tell the guests, band and caterer. In another dream, the venue was too small for the crowd. In yet another version, I missed the event as I had the date wrong.
I am not sure what I am supposed to learn from these dreams. I pray that there is no truth to them. I have no choice but to believe they are meant to make me see the worst that can happen so that no matter what happens, it will almost surely be better than the dream scenarios. I hope all of you Metroimmas out there will join us as we celebrate 10 years of our past success and anticipate 10 more amazing years to come.
MI tell your stories????
Originally published: June 14, 2011
Commenti