Shomrei Torah relies on volunteers to lead and work so many events at the Shul, none more so than the Annual Gala  Event. As prior Chairs of the Gala can attest, the details required for a successful Gala are daunting. When our President, Sheryl Sarin, announced on Kol Nidre night that the honorees for the 2011 Gala were Arlene and Mike Marks, their good friends Lisa Appel and Adrienne Podell stepped up and volunteered to Co-Chair the event. Shomrei Torah is very appreciative of their efforts in running a wonderful event and honors them as our May Volunteers of the Month.

Lisa is a native Long Islander, along with her native Long Island husband Jeff. The Appels joined Shomrei Torah when they arrived in Wayne in 1994. Lisa had been a stay-at-home, mom raising Alyssa, Andrew and Jared, while working summers at Spring Lake Day Camp. Lisa parlayed her medical office management background into a position at an orthodontic office in Riverdale and has been working there for the past three years. At Shomrei Torah, she served as Religious School PTO Co-President, along with Gala honoree Arlene, for three years. 

Adrienne and her husband, Scott, like Lisa, are native Long Islanders who moved to Wayne in 1993 and joined the temple a few years later. They also maintain a membership at Temple Beth El in Long Beach, NY, which Scott attended with his family as a child.  They have three children, Aaron, Elena and Jake.  Aaron will be attending the March of the Living to Poland and Israel with BBYO in April.  This has been a dream of his for years, as he is very connected with his Jewish heritage.  Adrienne has had a private psychotherapy practice in Paramus for the past 19 years and Scott is a director at the NYU School of Dentistry.  Their jobs and children keep them very busy and Adrienne was delighted she was able to find time to volunteer at the temple, which she hopes to be able to do more often in the future, as her two oldest children will soon be leaving for college.  

We are truly grateful to Lisa and Adrienne for their devotion and dedication to Shomrei Torah's key fundraising Event. They worked very hard to run a very successful Gala, along with their Committee. We thank Lisa and Adrienne for all they have given to Shomrei Torah!