Federation Reaches Out to Those Affected by Hurricane Sandy

As is our tradition in the case of widespread emergencies and natural disasters, our Bay Area Jewish community stands ready to respond and to help those most affected regardless of religious affiliation, just as we did with Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake.

Hurricane Sandy is a storm of unprecedented magnitude and breadth, affecting the Eastern portion of the United States. Our local Jewish community and our Federation movement sends our prayers and offers our support to the millions affected by the hurricane. We encourage those who are able to donate to the SF-based Federation’s Sandy Emergency Relief Fund by clicking on the link below and we will continue to update you with respect to relief, rebuilding, and the impact of your contributions.

You may also send checks to the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund at 121 Steuart Street, San Francisco, California, 94105, with “JCF Sandy Relief Fund” clearly marked on the checks.

Thank you for your consideration of those affected and for joining us in sending prayers and resources to all of those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

UPDATE: 

You can track storm updates through these resources:

JFNA

Council on Foundations

Repair the World

Center for Disaster Philanthropy

*Image by Michael Kirby Smith for the New York Times

Don’t let tough times prevent your family from participating in Jewish life & education

The Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties is here to help.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR THE 2011-2012 YEAR:

• Jewish preschools
• Jewish day schools
• Jewish overnight camps
• Jewish day camps
• Family specialty camp
• First-time teen trips to Israel
• College

Information about eligibility, criteria and how to apply online at www.jewishfed.org/scholarships

---

“Without your assistance, my son would not be able to continue at the preschool he has been attending since he was two years old. This past year has been very difficult financially for me as a single mother, and I am very grateful for your assistance during these trying times.”

- Sheila, preschool mom

---

How does $2500 off summer camp sound?

The wintertime is the BEST time to start thinking about summer camp.

Don’t miss out on the chance to send your child to camp, and save $2500!

From outdoor adventure and sports to music, dance and art, Jewish summer camp offers your child the experience of a lifetime. And if your child has never been to Jewish overnight summer camp, you may be eligible for a grant of $2500 over the next few summers!

The number of grants for new campers is limited, so secure your child’s grant before they’re gone. Register for an incredible summer at camp now, then go to onehappycamper.org to apply for up to $1500 off camp this summer. That’s all there is to it.

The grant is valid at 24 traditional and specialty camps throughout the Western U.S. and Canada, so there is bound to be a camp that’s just right for your child.

For more information, go to:
http://www.onehappycamper.org/

Did you know?

A range of scholarships are available from the Jewish Community Federation, including for Jewish preschool, day school, camps, college and teen trips to Israel. Plus JCF also administers Jim Joseph Foundation scholarships for Jewish preschool, day school and overnight camp on behalf of all three Bay Area Federations.
To learn more, go to: www.jewishfed.org/scholarships

The Bay Area Jewish Healing Center provides spiritual care to those in need

During a Federation staff tour, Adrienne Beard – a member of our Human Resources team – listened as the Executive Director of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center reflected on the process of saying goodbye to a loved one. What the Executive Director didn’t know was that Adrienne was in the midst of her own process of letting go: her mother was dying. Overwhelmed by sadness that she wasn’t at her mother’s bedside, Adrienne left the room. The Center’s Rabbi followed. What came next was a conversation Adrienne will never forget. Fighting back sobs, Adrienne opened up to the rabbi about her dilemma: she wanted her mother’s suffering to end, but she knew that meant letting her go forever. “He had the kindest eyes,” Adrienne said, reflecting on that moment. “He told me he’d pray for peace for me and my family.” Adrienne knows how others benefit from Federation-supported agencies like the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, but she never expected to be a recipient herself. “Grief extends beyond culture or race, and I will never forget his kindness and compassion.”

Adrienne’s story is one example of the many ways that the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center provides spiritual care, counseling, and education to the bereaved, to those living with illness, and to those caring for the ill. Recently, the Federation funded a unique two-day retreat for individuals and families in mourning. The Grief and Growing Camp weekend drew more than 35 participants, and was a testament to the power of Jewish community. In our times of greatest need, the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center is there to lift us up, and to help us go on.

Spotlight on Ruby Cymrot-Wu! A Bay Area LGBT Jewish Leader!

Ruby Cymrot-Wu is a queer Jewish leader, educator and organizer. She is a San Francisco native, a life-long member of Reform Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, graduate of Brandeis Hillel Day School, Lick-Wilmerding High School, Smith College and a current student at San Francisco State University. Recently she joined the incredible staff at Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative (TEEI). In the past few years, Cymrot-Wu has worked closely with Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, Progressive Jewish Alliance, and Kol Tzedek, rallying Jews statewide to fight for equality for LGBTQ folks. As an educator and trainer with Temple Sinai of Oakland Religious School and COLAGE she has developed youth empowerment curricula to provide Anti-Bias educational programming.

SF native Ruby Cymrot-Wu recently joined the incredible team at the Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative (TEEI).

TEEI is a unique collaborative partnership including  Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), the San Francisco LGBT Community Center  (The Center), the Transgender Law Center (TLC) and San Francisco Transgender Empowerment, Advocacy, and Mentorship (SF TEAM).  Each partner organization brings to TEEI a wealth of community expertise designed to help transgender individuals find stable jobs that provide a living wage, benefits, and opportunities for advancement. TEEI has been successful in placing a number of Trans and gender nonconforming individuals in the Jewish community.

“The work TEEI is doing in our community is quite extraordinary” said Cymrot-Wu. “I am honored to be part of a unique coalition that works to ensure people of all gender identities have access to the things we all need – jobs that provide opportunities for innovation and self-expression, jobs that pay our bills, and jobs that provide comprehensive health benefits so we may live healthy, full lives.”

Scholarships for Synagogue schools now available!

The Jewish Community Federation is providing funds for need-based financial assistance to enable families to keep their children enrolled in 27 congregational schools in the Federation’s service area. Families with children in grades K-12 can qualify to receive tuition assistance for the 2009-2010 school year. Funds for the scholarship program came from the Federation’s JCF Catalyst Initiative, and were made available as part of the Federation’s ongoing partnership with local synagogues. Partly inspired by the generosity of the Jim Joseph Foundation in providing need-based scholarship money for Jewish day schools, high schools, and overnight camps, the Catalyst funding is designed to fill a gap helping families with children in religious schools, also affected by economic hardship.

The Catalyst Initiative is an innovative initiative fueled by a $7 million allocation from the Federation’s Endowment Fund. Funds are used to provide immediate assistance to families and individuals affected by today’s economic crisis, to help build long-term sustainability in our institutions, to reach out to the next generation of Jews in a call to service, and to serve as an inspiration to other Foundations and philanthropists.

Call a participating synagogue today to see if you qualify.

San Francisco Congregation Beth Israel-Judea Congregation Beth Sholom Congregation B’nai Emunah Congregation Emanu-El Congregation Sha’ar Zahav Congregation Sherith Israel Or Shalom Jewish Community	North Bay B’nai Israel Jewish Center Congregation Beth Ami Congregation Kol Shofar Congregation Ner Shalom Congregation Rodef Sholom Congregation Shir Shalom Congregation Shomrei Torah Gan HaLev Jewish Congregation of the San Geronimo Valley
	The Peninsula Coastside Jewish Community Congregation Beth Am Congregation Beth Jacob Congregation Etz Chayim Congregation Kol Emeth Keddem Congregation Peninsula Sinai Congregation Peninsula Temple Beth El Peninsula Temple Sholom

Living Legacies at Work

Rachelle Hirstio:
December 18, 1914 - May 21, 2008

Rachelle Hirstio came to the United States from Sweden after World War II and taught French in in the Sequoia Union High School District. In the summers, she traveled back to Europe, taking students from around the United States with her. She was a quiet hero who lived through some extraordinary times. Rachelle went about her business, saving her paychecks and investing her money. After retirement she purchased a mobile home in Mountain View and continued her worldwide travels and mid-Peninsula cultural activities. When she passed away in May of 2008 at the age of 93, this modest schoolteacher left behind a not-so-modest estate, which she willed to the Jewish community. Her bequest joined the hundreds of others that help to make up the Jewish Community Endowment Fund today.

In Every Generation Unforeseen Challenges Arise

Last fall it became clear that the country was clearly heading into another extraordinary period ― the most severe economic downturn in decades. “Job losses are at their highest in twenty-five years,” reported Abby Snay, the Executive Director of Jewish Vocational Service. In response to the deteriorating economy, the Jewish Community Federation began a collaborative effort with agencies and Bay Area synagogues to assess the challenges ahead. Areas of urgent need were identified and the Federation prepared a rapid response menu of community priorities. When the Endowment Fund Committee met last December, they approved grants of $800,000 to support agencies and programs, focusing on the needs that were highlighted in the Federation’s list.

Responding to Emergency Needs

JCEF Allocations Chair Laura Lauder played a key role in fast-tracking the grant approval process. According to her, “Our first priority was to get funds to the agencies that deal directly with those in need as quickly as possible. Yet, at the same time, we must continue to fund and support all of our programs that enrich and strengthen the Jewish community here in the Bay Area, in Israel and around the world.”

Three emergency assistance grants were made, including

• $75,000 to Jewish Vocational Service to hire an additional full-time employment specialist, allowing them to meet the increased demand for services;
• $70,000 for Jewish Family and Children’s Services to help address supplementary requests for emergency financial assistance for individuals and families in crisis; and
• $50,000 to enable the Jewish Day School Scholarship Fund to help children stay in school.

Reacting to the news of the JVS grant, Ms, Snay said, “Unemployment is projected to grow throughout 2009. Because of this timely support, we are able to immediately address the dramatically growing need for employment help in our community.”

Rachelle Hirstio

Rachelle Hirstio lived through the 20th century’s most difficult periods. She entrusted the Jewish Community Endowment Fund to put her money to work for the betterment of her community in the 21st century. The gifts that Rachelle left included the balance of a Charitable Gift Annuity and a bequest. She also graciously made the Federation the beneficiary of two life insurance policies. These funds are a part of what makes it possible for the Jewish Community to meet this current emergency. Today’s donors are providing the resources that future generations will rely on to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

To direct your philanthropic priorities, please view a list of community needs at: www.sfjcf.org/go/needs

SF Chronicle Covers JCF’s Efforts to Help Keep Kids in School

Today, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the Federation’s efforts (in conjuncton with the Jim Joseph Foundation) to help parents facing financial difficulties keep their children enrolled in Jewish schools. Thanks to the Jewish Community Pre School and Day School Funds, 89 kids who were facing the prospect of being dis-enrolled from their schools have been given tuition aid, and can stay in school through the end of the current school year.

• “Federation helps with Jewish school tuition”
• Other news stories about Federation

San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Community receives $3.5 Million from Jim Joseph Foundation to keep kids in school

The Jim Joseph Foundation announced today that it has awarded $3.5 million to the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community, as part of an $11 million grant to five Jewish Community Federations, including the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston and the North Shore.

This grant provides emergency scholarships to Jewish families facing economic hardship due to the recent financial downturn. The Jim Joseph grant will provide much-needed financial assistance for families in need, and will be used to enable these families to keep their children attending Jewish preschools, day schools, and Jewish residential summer camps throughout much of Northern California. These institutions have been particularly hard hit by the downturn in the economy.

The Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties will administer the $3.5 million for the Federated communities in San Francisco, the East Bay and Silicon Valley. The Jim Joseph Foundation grant follows on the heels of the Federation’s own recent action that provided Jewish preschools and day schools with $225,000 in scholarship grants that made it possible for 89 families in the San Francisco Federation’s service area to keep their children enrolled.

According to Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the Jewish Community Federation, “This is outstanding news for the entire Bay Area Jewish community, especially in these times of economic hardship. We are honored to be given this responsibility. It is a testament to the Jim Joseph Foundation’s commitment to Jewish education, and to our organization’s ability to bring about positive change in the world. With this funding, our schools and their students are more secure. The Jim Joseph Foundation has certainly raised the bar for Jewish philanthropists.”

The Jim Joseph Foundation has a history of partnering with the SF-based Jewish Community Federation by funding innovative projects and programs designed to enhance Jewish education in the Bay Area, including PJ Library®, which provides Jewish themed books to young families, and BASIS, the Bay Area School Israel Synergy project in conjunction with the Bureau of Jewish Education.

Get up to $1800 for Jewish Summer Camp

Last summer, the Foundation for Jewish Camp and the Jim Joseph Foundation helped more than 70,000 campers share the experience of a lifetime at Jewish summer camp.

This year, let them help you get your camp on! They have incentive grants of up to $1800 for first-time campers entering grades 6-8.

The best part is that the $1800 JWest incentives can be combined with the Jewish Community Endowment Fund scholarships that provide financial assistance to children ages 3-15 going to day camp, and children ages 6-18 attending overnight camp. These scholarships have been available through the Bureau of Jewish Education for more than 30 years.

To learn more and apply online, visit: www.onehappycamper.org AND www.bjesf.org/financialaid.htm

For more information, contact:

JWest Campership Program
888.888.4819
jwest@jewishcamp.org

BJE: Financial Aid Campership Program
415.751.6983 x107
FinAid@bjesf.org