Melissa Batavia, a volunteer at the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, knows there are few things in life as terrifying as asking people to part with their money.
Batavia, who along with valued volunteer Julie Ovadia won this year’s 33rd annual Moses and Celia Lesser Young Leadership Awardees, said she tries to impart to her co-workers pitching techniques that make the pledge process “as painless as possible.”
Others phrased it differently.
“She uses bells, whistles, hats, pictures of herself — whatever it takes,” said Esther Rubke, the federation’s leadership development chair. “She’s known as the prop mistress.”
Upon hearing of the sobriquet bequeathed to her, Batavia laughed, saying the title was too grand.
“I just distribute party favors during the phoning sessions,” said Batavia. “It takes some of the fear out of the process.”
But if Batavia managed to inject some levity into how to fund-raise, she still takes her mission quite seriously.
The New York native, who now lives in Piedmont and attends Oakland’s Reform Temple Sinai with her husband and two daughters, said that volunteering at the federation requires more than a little fortitude.
“During our pledge drives, there’s no fashion show, no fancy lunches…it’s just you, the phone and a potential donor,” elaborated Batavia, who has chaired both the Women’s Division campaign and the Business and Professional Women’s Division during the past three years.
Batavia, who works at a mortgage brokerage firm, has demonstrated her can-do spirit both inside and outside the confines of the organized Jewish community.
Upon learning that a board member’s children couldn’t make up exams they missed due to Jewish holidays, Batavia sent calendars from the Anti-Defamation League to school administrators throughout Piedmont. That response ended up becoming her automatic, annual practice for the past six years.
“One principal actually called to tell me his calendar was late,” she quipped.
Fellow Lesser award-winner Ovadia also has a deeply embedded volunteer spirit.
“The state of Israel is almost like a child to me,” said Ovadia, who attended Hebrew University after getting her undergraduate degree at U.C. Berkeley. “I’m extremely passionate about it — no matter who’s at the helm.”
Ovadia, co-chair of the Israel Center of the East Bay, has other familial ties to Israel as well. The Oakland native, who attends the Orthodox Beth Jacob Congregation, made aliyah in 1976 and lived there for several years. That’s where she met her Israeli-born husband.
Their first child was born at the height of the Lebanon War, and it was an experience that Ovadia will never forget.
“The incredible sacrifices that the soldiers made during that time, including my husband Roni, will always be with me.
“It was a time of blackouts, bricks and taped windows. People always lived in fear that the car pulling up and the knocking on the door would be someone saying their son wouldn’t be returning.”
Part of the community experience that Ovadia vividly recalls is going through the birthing process with mothers whose husbands also had military duty. Ovadia took part in an Israeli version of Lamaze classes.
“It was called Tepat Halav,” said Ovadia, “and all the landmark, stressful things that were happening at the time really bonded us together.”
Ovadia co-chaired the federation’s year-long celebration of Israel’s 50th anniversary. However, she said she is most proud of her work in sending youths to Israel.
“What I’m really proud of is the fact that no one was ever denied a trip to Israel because of lack of financing,” she said.
Batavia also focused on the recipients of the Federation’s largesse, saying that on a recent trip to Kiev she witnessed firsthand the benefits of her fund-raising efforts.
“In Kiev, I saw 80- and 90-year-old people getting food boxes from the federation,” said Batavia. “For the first time in their life, they’re being singled out for being Jewish, and getting something good for it, instead of suffering from it.”
Her recent trek underscored the fulfillment Batavia gets from helping people.
In fact, Batavia sounded a spiritual note when asked why she gives so much of her time to Jewish causes.
“Volunteerism is my prayer,” she said. “When I volunteer, it’s like I’m in temple.”