Philanthropy

In early November, at both the General Assembly and then again on his visit to Seattle, Jerry Silverman, the new President of the Jewish Federations of North American (Formerly UJC,) laid out his five foci for the coming years (not in priority order):

Today’s column by Nicole Brodeur in The Seattle Times is a touching true story of a local, Jewish homeless woman who exemplifies tzedakah.

Homeless herself, and parentless after her parents were killed in the Holocaust, this woman recently came to Jewish Family Service to make a donation, not for services she could have used. Instead, she wanted to fulfill a promise she had made with her sister before she died about giving to “God’s people,” the people of Israel. And so her donation of $840, from rolled up bills in various bags, was directed to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle for our work with immigrants in Kiryat Malachi, Israel.

What a story of generosity, selflessness and partnership especially apropos during this season of thanks. Donate Now.

Read the article.

Yesterday, over 100 volunteers from across the community turned out to help the Jewish Federation at Super Sunday.

Community-wide organizational leaders, UW AEPi fraternity members, Seattle newcomers and regular volunteers crowded the Stroum Jewish Community Center’s auditorium where the phones were busy all day.

At Super Sunday, the sound of the grogger was a good thing—another gift had been made. At the end of the day, $230,000 from more than 400 generous donors was pledged to the Community Campaign. And 30 people donated blood and 18 signed up for the Bone Marrow Registry through the Puget Sound Blood Center.

You can still add to the community success. Donate Now.

Come make calls and help raise much needed funds for local agencies on November 22 at Super Sunday from 9am-5pm at the Stroum Jewish Community Center. You can also donate blood, nosh and win prizes! It’s a whole day of mitzvot!

And thanks to the JCC, every volunteer will get a free two-week guest pass, and a chance to win a year-long membership to the JCC and the Seattle Art Museum in our many raffles!

The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle is pleased to announce $70,000 worth of grants from the Capital Needs Fund to two local Jewish institutions, Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation and Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder.

On November 22, the Jewish Federation will host Super Sunday, our once a year, community-wide phon-a-thon that raises thousands of dollars for our Jewish community and a blood drive and bone marrow registration drive with the Puget Sound Blood Bank. Sign up now!

But we need your help! We need volunteers to commit to one (or more) two-hour sessions to make calls.

Congratulations to the six organizations who just received word that they are recipients of a “Small and Simple Grant” from the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. A total of $23,000 in grants was distributed across six local Jewish organizations in the greater Seattle area. The grant recipients, alphabetically, are as follows:

• $5,000 to Hillel’s Kolenu Program, expanding outreach to the GLBTQ community at Hillel UW.
• $5,000 to the Jewish Federation for JKIDS Hanukkah Pajama Jam with the JCC.
  

Today, we are pleased to announce $65,000 in grants to six local Jewish organizations in the greater Seattle area. The Challenging Times Economic Impact Grants were created to help local Jewish organizations meet growing needs for services and scholarships due to the economic downturn.

The largest grant recipient is Jewish Family Service who received $39,000 for Safety Net-related needs: $10,000 for Aging and Adult Programs, $10,000 for Emergency Services, $10,000 for the Food Bank and $9,000 for the Seattle Association for Jews with Disabilities.