Rebecca Sprintz is an extraordinarily self-assured, gracious and grateful young woman. Just 32- years-old, she works full time as a practitioner of Chinese Medicine, is married with two young children, and is fully devoted to her extended family and community.

Rebecca was raised in the embrace of a loving family that included her parents, Debbie and David Lewis, her older brother Moishe, and seven grandparents - Aubrey Lewis, Doreen and Izzy Shachter, Lil and Ike Greenfeld, Jacob Macklis, and a little later, Al Sprintz. She grew up in Garden City and Tuxedo; learned Hebrew at Centennial, Talmud Torah and Simkin Middle School; attended high school at JWC and Kelvin, and studied at both the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba.

Rebecca thrived at school, joyously celebrated Jewish holidays, and spent summers at Camp Massad, BB, and with her Greenfeld grandparents at Winnipeg Beach. She travelled, danced with Chai, and honed her leadership skills at BBYO conventions.

Rebecca met and fell in love with her husband Danial when she was 19 years old, after returning to Winnipeg from a gap year spent travelling in Australia and New Zealand. Realizing immediately that Danial was her bashert, she stayed by his side when he took seriously ill a year into their relationship and then invited him to accompany her to B.C. when she was accepted into a four year Chinese Medicine program.

Rebecca and Danial moved back to Winnipeg in 2009 following her graduation from Pacific Rim College in Victoria, married a year later, and soon after started their family. Their daughter Sage is now five and just began French immersion kindergarten at Ecole Tuxedo, and their son Cole is three and happily attends the Rady day care.

A few weeks after Cole was born, Rebecca opened Family Acupuncture Wellness Clinic. She works full time in her flourishing practice, focusing primarily on acupuncture treatments related to infertility, pregnancy and post-natal care, helping more than 30 patients a day. Rebecca's choice of career was motivated by her desire to connect with people and to help them both physically and emotionally. Her practice of Chinese medicine, she explains, allows her to think and work with both her heart and her hands, and provides her with invaluable opportunities to help others thrive.

Life is very full and busy for Rebecca at this stage and every moment of every day is accounted for. Yet, in spite of the demands of her career and her children, and the demands of her husband's career - he is Executive Director of Camp Massad - she still finds time to mentor others, occasionally volunteer, and be ever present for family and friends. She and Danial make it a priority to participate with their children in community events and programs, spend weekends at their cottage, and host their family Seders every spring, taking over the role once assumed by Rebecca's grandfather Ike. Rebecca also tries to bring her children out to Camp Massad every Friday during the summer so her family can welcome Shabbat together.

Rebecca credits Danial for making her a better Jewish person and for encouraging her to participate in the Endowment Book of Life, just as he did in 2016. She recognizes that she and Danial are fortunate to be in a position, at such a young age, to even consider making a financial commitment to the Foundation and to the community, and she hopes that their actions will have a ripple effect and inspire their friends and peers to do the same. She also hopes that Sage and Cole will learn from their parents' example the importance of giving tzedaka and helping others, without expecting anything in return. Rebecca wants giving to become second nature to her children, and she is determined to teach them to be accepting, supportive and respectful of others.

Rebecca describes Sage and Cole as joyful and loving, and is deeply appreciative of how much they are adored and loved by her and Danial's families and the community as a whole. She knows that even at their young ages, they already have a sense of belonging everywhere they go. Rebecca appreciates just how important that sense of belonging is.

"Being a part of this community has given me a strong foundation of support, friendship, opportunity, and truly a place to call home," she says.

That is what she wants for her children, and that is why, at this busy, hectic time in her life, she is already thinking of the future and is already supporting the JFM.

2017