A Match Made at JFS!

Last weekend, JFS staff members helped orchestrate a marriage proposal for one of our volunteers! The romantic tale began on a Sunday morning in November 2007 when Mark Schwartz came to JFS to sort food at the JFS Weinberg Food Pantry through the Jewish Hikes and Fun Stuff Meetup Group. While he had participated in activities with this group before, he had never met Tracy Levy until this day. They became friends and ran into each other a few times at various events over the next couple years. Then, Mark and Tracy both attended a hiking group potluck this past October and began dating.

During their whirlwind romance, Mark also started volunteering with JFS on a regular basis as a Friendly Visitor to a man living with AIDS. "Mark was so dedicated to this client right up until the man passed away in November," says Nancy Benyamin, JFS director of volunteer resources. "The two became very close and Mark even wrote a very touching eulogy for the client."

"It was such a rewarding experience and I look forward to volunteering more in the future with JFS," says Mark. Tracy also plans to be a Friendly Visitor volunteer in the near future.

"Because I am sentimental, I decided to propose to Tracy at the location where we met - in the JFS lobby!" says Mark. "I called Nancy Benyamin last Thursday and asked her to help me set up the proposal." So Nancy sent an email to Mark and Tracy with an urgent plea for volunteers to come sort a large (and fictitious) shipment of food on Sunday morning. Mark promised to get Tracy there at 9 a.m. on Sunday and we would help with the rest of the plan. He also had a beautiful bouquet of roses sent to our office on Friday to present to Tracy after the proposal.

Jari Thymian, our database manager, jumped at the chance to help with the proposal on Sunday morning. She unlocked the door for Mark and Tracy when they arrived and then acted very perplexed when no one else showed up to volunteer. She told them she was going to her desk to see if any of the other volunteers left messages for her. Her exit was Mark's cue to do his thing! He got down on one knee, Tracy happily accepted his proposal, and Jari emerged from around the corner with the bouquet of flowers.

"It was so fun to play a role in their engagement!" says Jari. "I was honored to help and it was fun to 'ham it up!'" Mark adds, "Jari was awesome! Thanks to her and Nancy, the surprise went off without a hitch."

Congratulations to Mark and Tracy! Hmmmm....maybe a JFS wedding is in their future? The upstairs atrium is pretty big! :)