Victoria, Jewish Care hail Masha
COMMUNITY stalwart Masha Zeleznikow has been honoured for her decades of volunteer work with Jewish Care Victoria, receiving a Minister of Health Volunteer Award as part of National Volunteers Week.
Zeleznikow was presented with the accolade by Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy.
It was the first of a brace of awards Zeleznikow collected last Wednesday. That evening, at the Jewish Care annual appeal dinner, she was also presented with the Leo and Mina Fink Community Service Award, for her longstanding service to both Jewish Care and the community.
Zeleznikow made her mark almost four decades ago when then Jewish Welfare asked her to visit a Russian-speaking Jewish migrant in the Alfred Hospital who was recovering from a suicide attempt.
Moved by her experience, she helped arrange regular social activities for newly arrived migrants, mostly from the former Soviet Union, assisting the newcomers in settling into the community. She helped them find jobs, housing and schooling for their children.
Jewish Care and the volunteers of the Tuesday Club, as the group became known, began a long tradition of reaching out to new migrants, under Zeleznikow’s guidance. And today the club continues as part of the organisation’s Healthy Ageing Program.
“Throughout my life I volunteered simply because it was the right thing to do in my family,” said Zeleznikow.
“I still remember our war years in Kazakhstan – my mother made huge pots of soup which I took to starving yeshivah boys. And now, so many years down the track, I still love to help others.”
Some 400 Jewish Care supporters attended the appeal dinner at Leonda by the Yarra, with master of ceremonies Georgia Danos showcasing the many services provided by the organisation.
The event began with A Bissel of Romance, a video which showed Jewish Care residents sharing their stories on romance. This was later followed with a video of residents tackling questions related to social media and technology.
Moishe Fried, 94, a Gary Smorgon House resident and talented tenor, gave a performance, accompanied on piano by cantor Dov Farkas.
Guest speaker Natasha Katz, an enrolled nurse at the Smorgon Family Nursing Home, shared her story of working in aged care.
Jewish Care president Mike Debinski reflected on this year’s appeal theme of handling the unexpected, “like job loss, illness, disability, marriage breakdown, financial hardship and stress, domestic violence and abuse”.
Appeal dinner chair Melissa Davis urged supporters to help Jewish Care attain its $3.5 million target.
To make a donation, call 1800 539 474 or visit: www.jewishcare.org.au/donate.
PETER KOHN
Masha Zeleznikow (right) receives her award from Jill Hennessy.
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