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Jewish community to honor Plano patrons
By Ian Floyd, Staff Writer
One litigates, the other deals in diamonds. One is a former immigrant, the other was born, bred and bleeds Plano pride.
Although worlds apart in many respects, on Sunday, two selfless men will be honored at Chabad of Plano's 19th annual "Evening of Leadership, Friendship and Purpose" where Rabbi Menachem Block will present David McCall and David Erling with awards.
"It's one of the greatest blessings that I have in my roles as a rabbi, and that is to be in a position to acknowledge people and to thank people for what they have done," Block said. "It's a great honor for me and a privilege."
"I decided to go to law school, because when I discovered I couldn't really dissect a cat, there went medical school," McCall said. "I had majored in political science, and I thought I would enjoy the practice of law."
History shows that he did. Once graduating from Baylor, McCall returned to Plano and began practicing law. In 1985, McCall and John Gay opened their own practice, and over time their firm grew and blossomed. Currently the firm includes 10 attorneys and a staff of 19.
All the while, McCall served in countless community leadership positions: Baylor University regent, Plano ISD bond committee co-chair, DART board chairman and was Collin County Community College District, now Collin College founder.
"David is the essence of and has the heart of a public servant," Block said. "He has the heart of someone that has an understanding about the meaning of service, which means that it isn't only about you, what you can take or what you can have. It's about giving back to the greater cause and the greater good in a selfless way. He has done that and continues to do that."
The Distinguished Civic Leadership Award was created in 2008 to recognize residents who go above and beyond for the betterment of Plano. The award has only been given twice prior. The first was to Phil Dyer in 2008, who went on to be elected Mayor of Plano in 2009. The second was in 2010 to the late Jim Boswell, the former administrative director of physician services at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Plano. Although selected and presented by a Jewish group, all three recipients have been non-Jewish.
"I am very honored and humbled," McCall said. "There are a lot of good people who do a lot of good things for this community, and sometimes they are overlooked. Just coming from where it's coming from and who has received it in the past, I am very honored."
Later that evening, David Erling will be presented with the Chessed Award for his extensive work with Chabad. Erling has lived a vastly different life than McCall, but has served the community, albeit in a more intimate environment. After immigrating to the United States in 1988 from South Africa, Erling worked for a construction company where he had an opportunity to extend his tacit knowledge of how things work.
"I generally am just handy," Erling said. "I have always been able to take almost anything apart and put it back together. I did do construction for a while when I first came to the country and I did learn things, but I am just generally handy."
Erling began attending Chabad roughly six years ago. Shortly after, he started volunteering his time, and hasn't stopped since.
"I think they were building the yearly Sukkah," Erling said. "So I showed up and started working on it and there it began. As things came up, I volunteered myself. I guess I worked myself into this role."
Erling put his innate and learned talents to work for the benefit of the synagogue. After constructing his first project, the Sukkah -- a ceremonial hut-like structure for the weekly Jewish festival of Sukkot -- he went on to complete a range of tasks. From changing light bulbs to building a playground for the youth, he saved Chabad of Plano thousands of dollars by completing projects without the aid of outside help.
"He always finds a way to fix a problem and to make it work," Block said. "And he never complains, he does it with a smile. A lot of people will do it, but they are like, 'Ah, I have got to do it again?' He just does it with a good spirit."
Erling will be the fourth person to accept the Chessed award, meaning 'kindness' in Hebrew. This 'kindness award' is set aside for local volunteers that have given an exceptional amount of time and energy to Chabad of Plano.
"It's a tremendous honor, but I don't really feel like I do anything that's worthy of it," Erling said. "I just do what I do because I enjoy it. I feel like it is a little thing for me to give back to them. It's the least I could do."
Both men will receive their awards from Block on Sunday, June 5 at the John Anthony Theatre on the Collin College Spring Creek Campus. Heading the ceremonies as keynote speaker will be former Dallas Cowboy and observant Jew, Alan Veingrad.
"It's important for people to realize that you aren't living in a vacuum," Block said. "It's not just, I was here for one day for you to come and benefit from it. I want the Jewish community -our community - to realize and recognize the people that have been there since the beginning and have given us the city we enjoy."
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