The Sephardic Women’s Charity Club (SWCC) recently held an exciting event celebrating the organization’s third anniversary. The intention of the day was to tell everyone about the unity, charity and kindness the organization had brought about and to encourage more women to get involved!
Over the years, 1,000 community women have been given pouches which they call their personal “tzedaka boxes” in which they put away a few dollars each month. The money from the pouches is collected each month, and from these few dollars, thousands of dollars are collected and donated to a community charity.
The event was graciously hosted by Yvette and Jimmy Hanon. Over 400 women gathered for a fun filled day of inspiring lectures, motivational speakers and comedy skits. The afternoon opened with the SWCC spiritual advisor Rabbi Eli Mansour, praising the group’s commitment to unity and charity, donating money to the many community institutions and organizations across the board. As Rabbi Mansour stated “Unity brings blessingnever underestimate the power of it.”
Rabbi Joey Haber commented that he was amazed at the creativity of raising money a few dollars at a time. “Small Changebig difference,” has become the SWCC official motto. He was so inspired, he walked away with pouches for his mother, wife and daughters.
The very talented Frieda Sutton performed her famous fun and enjoyable skits. Performing a spoof on the Syrian woman’s lifestyle, Frieda had the crowd hysterical laughing. “With a splash of love, laughter and a sprinkle of inspiring speakers the afternoon was a great success,” said Frieda.
Motivational Speaker Linda Haddad gave an inspirational speech illustrating how our actions affect everyone around us. She then entertained the crowd with a hilarious skit. She came up with her own take as to why Chanel pocketbooks are so popular in our community.
By comparing the CC on Chanel to “charity and community” she creatively gave new meaning to the Chanel logo.
Poopa Dweck, famous for her “Aromas of Aleppo” cookbook spoke eloquently about the power of women. She spoke of the importance of balancing the many roles a woman plays in her life. “The day reflected the emunah (faith), spirituality, and dedication of the women of our community.”
We were honored to have Karen Baghdadi make a special trip from Brooklyn to share her words of courage with us. She gave us all strength, as she described her belief that Hashem guides us every step of the way. She spoke of the immense gratitude she feels towards the community for the immeasurable amount of ways they have been helping her with her surgeries and recovery. May Hashem bless her and give her a speedy recovery.
The atmosphere in the room was electrifying; everyone wanted to become a part of this wonderful charity group!
The SWCC would like to thank all the rabbis and guest speakers who made this day the huge success that it was and that helped us exceed all our expectations. Thank you to Diane Paige, who graciously presented us with a poem that she wrote and dedicated to the women of the SWCC. Also, thank you Elana Matalon and Malki Giniger for the SWCC theme song, which was beautifully sung by Rozie Grazi. We would especially like to thank all the sponsors and volunteers for their support, for making the day possible.
We ended the day by presenting an award to Loraine Mishan, a very special and caring woman who has been the driving force of the SWCC since its inception.
The seeds of hesed and charity have been planted into our generous community. With Hashem’s help the SWCC will continue to grow and blossom enriching the lives of others!” said Linda Haddad.
