Submission #20396 by Beth Torah Men's Club - Richardson, TX (1713)

I have read the 2021 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Club Name
Beth Torah Men's Club - Richardson, TX (1713)
Lox Box Breakfast Program
Club Representative
Person completing form
Stanton
Zeff
Club President at time of convention if known at this time
Stanton
Zeff
Club President Now
Stanton
Zeff
COVID-19

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When we realized we would not be able to hold our final breakfast meeting of the year (in which we conduct officer elections for next year), we decided to combine a "box breakfast" (consisting of lox/bagel/cream cheese/fruit) and a "virtual" meeting (via Zoom) where we could engage our membership. It was considered a great success as we prepared/distributed over 30 box breakfasts to our membership (via an online sign-up process), followed by their participation/voting in a online Zoom meeting.
The time between the actual decision to hold a virtual meeting and the planning/execution of that meeting was approximately 2 weeks; it was a herculean effort that was lead by our Men's Club Executive committee and Board members (approximately a dozen people).

The program was divided into 3 parts:
1) Distribution of box breakfasts
2) Virtual meeting, including comments by our Rabbi
3) Officer elections (via electronic voting in Zoom)

See attachments for details on food prep, Rabbi comments, and meeting screen shot.
Attachments
31mayabstract.rtf
building_lox_boxes.docx
mc_elections_2020-05-31.jpg
boxbreakfast_food.jpg
boxbreakfast_kitchen.jpg
Self Assessment
This program (and it's timing) was important for a few reasons:
1) We had not held a monthly breakfast meeting since February due to the COVID-19 "shut down"
2) We had never conducted a virtual meeting OR distributed any sort of pre-packaged food
3) It was obvious our membership was missing the connection to our Shul and Rabbi

Through the creativity and hard work of many, we succeeded on all counts.
Between the ability to (virtually) see each other and the Rabbi's impactful message of "don't worry, be happy" (or at least talk about it), we were able connect with our membership and send the message that we would find a way to continue club activities in the upcoming year--COVID-19 or not.
Our club's monthly breakfast meetings are a signature element of our perennial Quality Award winning strategy to include our membership community. It was imperative that we find a way to continue them going forward, and a tribute to our club leadership that it was executed to the highest standards on such short notice.

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Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes
Bronze