Our Impact

Each year, the Jewish Federation distributes $10 million to nonprofits locally, in Israel and worldwide with nearly $6 million raised through our Community Campaign and the remainder coming from our endowment and related funds.

Ensuring a vibrant and connected Jewish community is an ongoing and multi-faceted challenge, one we are up to meeting. Together, we are building a bright Jewish future, meeting community needs and keeping people connected.

By focusing on the big picture, we help create partnerships and bring the broader community together to address key issues and target resources effectively.

Stories of Impact

The Jewish Federation makes numerous impacts locally, in Israel and worldwide. Here are just a few examples.

Story of Impact: Artem

17-year-old Artem Kenzer and his father, also named Artem, have always been close. When he was born with severe Down Syndrome in a remote factory town in Georgia, his parents did what few people there would have done when confronted with a mentally challenged newborn. They kissed him and blessed him and took him home to their one-room apartment and they called themselves a family.

Story of Impact: Chelsea

Even though Chelsea had her Bat Mitzvah the year before, inside she was still scared and confused and not ready to be the woman everyone expected her to be. Uncomfortable in her own skin and unsure of her place in the world, she would retreat for hours at a time. That is, until her family's Seder in 2003. "I drank four full cups—and for the first time, there was silence in my head. I wanted that feeling of peace all the time."

Story of Impact: Nodari

When war erupted last year in South Ossetia, between Russia and Georgia, thousands of Georgians were displaced. Among them was Nodari Putkaradze, a doctor whose family had been living in Gori for generations.

Nodari and his wife and daughter were at home one afternoon when they heard an explosion. Suddenly, their balcony came crashing into the living room. The walls shook, the floor trembled, and the house began to collapse around them. They barely escaped, crawling out through a shower of glass and plaster. But as they ran to shelter in a nearby garage, a bomb landed close enough to throw Nodari against a wall and critically injure him.