THE JFCS PERMANENT ENDOWMENT FUND UPDATE
FALL 2012
8 Phyllis Friedman’s 1 Support for the Community Runs Deep 8 Harvey and Andrea 2 Schloss’s Named Fund Builds a Strong Endowment for Future Generations
8 JFCS Carob Tree 4 Society’s Named Funds
8 New Named Fund 6 Will Perpetuate Teachings of the Holocaust
8 Giving to Causes 8
8 Phyllis Friedman Endowment Fund for Children and Families
Dear to Your Heart
Phyllis Friedman’s Support for the Community Runs Deep For JFCS friend Phyllis Friedman, support of the agency and the community runs in her blood. Her mother, Eleanor Haas Koshland, was the inspiring first female president of the Jewish Family Service Agency (now JFCS), and her father, Daniel Koshland, was a founder of the San Francisco Foundation. Continued on page 7
Phyllis Friedman
8 Schloss Endowment Fund for Use Where Most Needed
Harvey and Andrea Schloss’s Named Fund Builds a The notion of families coming to the aid of those in need has particular resonance for Harvey and Andrea Schloss, who created the Schloss Family Endowment Fund for Use Where Most Needed at JFCS. When Andrea was a young child in Brooklyn, her father died unexpectedly in his sleep on Father’s Day—days before her family was to move to their first house on Long Island. It was only the intervention of caring family members that sustained Andrea through her childhood and adolescence.
Thanks to their love and support, Andrea blossomed, going on to become her high school’s valedictorian and a graduate of the University of Rochester and Columbia University. For Harvey, there was always the strong connection between family and helping others. “My parents were strongly observant Jews, steeped in Yiddishkeit, and both were deeply involved in the Jewish community. My father was the treasurer of his synagogue, and my mother was the president of the Miami chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women and
Harvey and Andrea Schloss
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the tradition of tzedakah and mitzvot.
Strong Endowment for Future Generations a member of many other Jewish charitable organizations.”
A Life of Service When Andrea and Harvey, a former executive in the publishing, financial, legal, and technology industries, moved from the East Coast to Palo Alto in the 1970s, they quickly became involved in the Jewish community through their membership at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. Harvey was active at the synagogue, becoming its president and the founding chair of its social action committee. This social action commitment led to an invitation to join the Board of Directors at JFCS and eventual tenure as Board President. Harvey’s work on the Board proved eye-opening. “It’s like being on the scaffolding surrounding a building. You get to look at
the entire operation,” he says. It has deepened his and Andrea’s commitment to the agency and the many people in the community who need help. They chose to create a named fund at JFCS because “endowment provides a cushion that lets you ride out the hard years when the need for aid increases and resources decrease,” Harvey says. The couple have passed along their tradition of tzedakah and mitzvot to their children. Rabbi Janine Schloss is the director of education at Seattle’s Temple Beth Am, and Larry, a scientist, is a member of his parents’ synagogue, along with his wife and children. Harvey and Andrea look forward to continuing their deep ties to JFCS in the years to come. “There are a zillion good causes,” Harvey says, “but nothing ever speaks to me quite like JFCS does.” H
“There are a zillion good causes, but nothing ever speaks to me quite like JFCS does.” Harvey Schloss
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Legacy Giving at Jewish Family and Children’s Services
JFCS Carob Tree Society’s Named Funds List as of September 2012 Lorna Altshuler Endowment Fund Alvin H. Baum Jr. Endowment Fund Ann & Irwin Bear Fund for Palliative / End of Life Care Allan Berenstein Endowment Fund for Seniors Jean-Helios Bermingham & Sherman Winthrop Family Fund Bernstein Family Endowment Fund Doris Blinks & Dorothy Shapiro Fund Beverly Shirlee Zimmerman Bock Fund for Girls and Women at Risk Sam Budovsky Memorial Scholarship Fund Circle of Life Endowment Fund Clarence & Suzanne Claugus Family Fund Ruth Cohen Memorial Endowment Fund Gary, Holly & Erica Cohn Endowment Fund Roselyn & David Copans Memorial Fund Valerie & Paul Crane Dorfman Endowment Fund The Damensztein Family Fund Don Dorsey Family Fund Ellyn, Howard, & Laura’s Food Services Fund Barbara & Jeffrey Farber Family Fund Martin Fleishman Endowment Fund Joseph & Rita Friedman Family Fund Phyllis Friedman Endowment Fund for Children and Families Janie & Don Friend Family Fund Michelle & Robert Friend Family Fund Lynn & Claude Ganz Family Fund Sarah Lee & Richard Gilman Memorial Fund for Parents Place Jeri & Fred Goldberg Endowment Fund Nancy & Larry Goldberg Changing Laws, Changing Lives Endowment Fund David & Marie Goldstein Fund for At-Risk Children Frances & William Green Endowment Fund for Seniors Grunfeld Family Fund for Children’s Services Henken/Kamph Family Fund Deborah & Craig Hoffman Family Endowment Fund 4
Huret-Dulski-Op den Kamp Family Fund to Help Older Adults Maintain Independent Living Marian Huret Fund to Help Young Women Start Their Careers Marsha & Donald Jacobs Family Fund The JIMMY Fund Ronald N. Kahn & Julia T. Rowe Endowment Fund Kaminer Family Fund Elaine & Michael Kaplan Family Endowment Fund Karen Katz Endowment Fund Margaret Kaufman Family Fund Kay Family Endowment Fund Vera & Leo Kiachko Memorial Fund for Seniors Felix Kolb, M.D. Medical Assistance Fund Muriel Lerner Leff Fund Let Them Eat Bread Fund Fred M. & Nancy Livingston Levin Fund for Adults with Disabilities Lucille & Henry Libicki Endowment Fund Sid & Gerry Lipton Family Fund Sharon L. Litsky & John F. Sampson Fund for At-Risk Youth Eric & Greta Livingston Family Fund Anna & Alexander S. Lushtak Family Fund Maibach Family Fund for At-Risk Youth Maier Family Endowment Fund Maisel Currens Family Fund Mendel Family Fund Stephanie & John Mendel Fund No One Can Ever Steal Your Rainbow Fund John & Barbara Osterweis Family Fund Joseph & Eda Pell Fund for Children at Risk Robert & Jeanette Pickard Memorial Rental Assistance Fund Purple Lady Fund Varda & Irving Rabin Family Fund Miki Amelia Rayant Children’s Fund F.W.C. Rivka Peninsula Seniors Fund Robbins Family Endowment Fund
JFCS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Alex & Gertrude Roberts Endowment Fund Gerald Rosenstein Endowment Fund Auntie Irene Hannah Rubens Girls Can Be Anything Fund Helen Rubin Memorial Fund Joseph & Norma Satten Endowment Fund Dorothy R. Saxe Fund for Children and Families Schloss Family Endowment Fund Norman & Adrienne Schlossberg Fund The Schwarzbach Family Fund Richard Segal & Dorothy Connelly Endowment Fund Shilling-Rieger Family Fund Sheri & Paul Siegel Family Fund Lana Berke Silverman Endowment Fund for Special Needs Audrey & Robert Sockolov Family Fund Ida & Leo Sonkin Fund Aaron Spector Take Me Out to the Ballgame Fund Candice & Richard Stark Endowment Fund Steier Family Fund Vera & Harold Stein Jr. Endowment Fund Ronna Stone / Tim Smith Family Fund Sucherman-Horn Endowment Fund Susser Family Fund for Children Esther Sweeny Memorial Fund Larrry Tannenbaum Legacy Fund Bonnie Tenenbaum Fund for Youth Development Weinberger Children’s Fund Idell & Otto Weiss Family Youth Community Service Fund Vera B. & Lonnie Weiss Fund for LGBT Children and Youth Dr. Steven Wiesner Endowment Fund William & Joseph Fund Kathy & Don Williams Family Endowment Fund Mitzi & Adolf Wilner Memorial Fund Harry & Florence Wornick Endowment Fund Diane & Howard Zack Family Fund for Children at Risk Zahler-Wachs Family Fund
The Match Is Back Through December 31, 2012, you can become a member of JFCS’ Carob Tree Society and qualify for a $3,600 matching gift by committing $10,000 to a new or existing named fund—paid either upfront or over a four-year period.
PRESIDENT Nancy Goldberg VICE PRESIDENTS Paul Crane Dorfman Michael J. Kaplan Susan Kolb TREASURER Richard Segal SECRETARY Claire M. Solot DIRECTORS Joseph Alouf Ian H. Altman Tammy Crown Lynn Ganz Marsha W. Jacobs, MFT Michael Janis Ronald N. Kahn Scott C. Kay Sharon L. Litsky Jan Maisel, MD Galina Miloslavsky Joyce Newstat Karen Pell Lela Sarnat, PhD Zoe Schwartz James Shapiro Candice Stark Ronna Stone Stephen Swire Ingrid D. Tauber, PhD Marina Tikhman Luba Troyanovsky Douglas A. Winthrop EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dr. Anita Friedman
ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE
CHAIR Paul Crane Dorfman Carole Breen Harry Cohn Nancy Epstein Nancy Goldberg Judy Huret Michael J. Kaplan Siesel Maibach Daryl Messinger Dr. Raquel Newman Cindy Gilman Redburn Joyce Rifkind Alison Ross Lela Sarnat, PhD Harvey Schloss Stephen J. Schwartz Vera Stein Bonnie Tenenbaum, PhD Luba Troyanovsky Bernard Werth
JFCS PERMANENT ENDOWMENT FUND
Barbara Farber, Director Tamara Wallenstein, Associate Director DESIGN: SF Art Department
www.jfcs.org
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8 The Mitzi and Adolf Wilner Memorial Fund
New Named Fund Will Perpetuate Teachings of the Holocaust Every family has a rich history and story to tell. Susan Wilner Golden decided to communicate and perpetuate her parents’ story by establishing the Mitzi and Adolf Wilner Memorial Fund in loving memory of her parents. Adolf and Mitzi were married in Lvov, Poland, on November 28, 1944, having survived the last few years of the war together. During the war, Adolf hid in the basement of a home where Mitzi worked serving meals to German soldiers who occupied Lvov. Mitzi pretended to be Christian throughout the war and was able to survive, in part, because of her blond hair and blue eyes, her grit and tenacity, and the help of righteous gentiles. After the war, the couple moved to the United States, where they rebuilt their lives and started their family, which now includes grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Mitzi was active in the Speakers Bureau of the Holocaust Center of Northern California (now the JFCS Holocaust Center), educating hundreds of school-aged children about the perils of prejudice and the need for tolerance. Her unique story touched hundreds of lives throughout the Bay Area and, Mitzi Wilner and her granddaughters.
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most significantly, those of her granddaughters, Amanda and Jenny.
Passing It On Even at very young ages, the girls understood how extraordinary their grandmother was. Mitzi spoke to Amanda’s classmates at her school when they studied the Holocaust, and Amanda had the foresight to interview and videotape her grandmother’s story for future generations. Jenny lovingly wrote about Mitzi in second grade for a project about her ancestors and described the heirloom she received from her Bubbe in a school report: “The heirloom I inherited from my Bubbe was her blonde, curly hair and blue eyes, and her courage and bravery.” Amanda and Jenny adored their Bubbe and kept her young with laughter and curiosity. Mitzi died at the age of 91 in January
Mitzi and Adolf Wilner
2009. Although Adolf died many years before they were even born, Amanda and Jenny both learned of his story and of the perseverance and determination he had to build a new life in America for his family. The Mitzi and Adolf Wilner Memorial Fund is now established to help create outreach and educational programs for the next generation—the grandchildren and future descendants of Holocaust survivors who were raised or live in Northern California—so they may continue to honor the legacy of courage, resilience, and determination exemplified by the survivors. Says Susan, “Each survivor’s story needs to be remembered, to honor the memory of those who perished, but also to recall the enormous courage they possessed, enabling them to both survive and rebuild their lives.” H
8 Phyllis Friedman Endowment Fund for Children and Families touching generations to come.
Phyllis Friedman’s Support for the Community Runs Deep Continued from cover Her late husband, Howard, an architect, designed the rebuilt Jewish Home in San Francisco and served as its board president. Looking back upon many decades of philanthropy and civic involvement, Phyllis, who established the Phyllis Friedman Endowment Fund for Children and Families at JFCS, attributes her concerns for family issues and social needs to her late parents. “My father was very socially conscious, and he felt antiSemitism when we were growing up in the 1920s and 1930s,” she says. “That led to his interest in fighting for civil rights. My mother, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, was so committed to JFCS that her confinement to a wheelchair didn’t prevent her from attending meetings at the agency.” Growing up during the Depression and hearing stories from her parents about people in need made a deep impression on Phyllis—not just philanthropically. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she received both her undergraduate degree
and her MSW from the School of Social Welfare, Phyllis went on to a satisfying career as a social worker. Among her many professional achievements was the development of a program that helped elderly Russian Jewish emigres to acclimate to life in the Bay Area.
Generations of Giving Throughout the years, Phyllis has remained vitally interested in scores of issues affecting millions of Americans— including domestic violence, mental health, bullying, senior care, and homophobia—and has steadfastly supported JFCS as the agency has worked to improve the lives of the 75,000 people it helps annually. “JFCS does the best job around,” she
“JFCS does the best job around. It knows the needs of people and the community, and it responds so effectively.”
says. “It knows the needs of people and the community, and it responds so effectively. I refer people to JFCS all the time, whether they’re children, parents, or seniors.” Just as Phyllis’s parents inspired her, she and Howard inspired their three children— Eleanor, David, and Robert—all of whom are highly regarded civic leaders and philanthropists. Phyllis’s sister, Frances “Sissy” Geballe, also a generous JFCS donor, was instrumental in the opening of the Eleanor Haas Koshland Center in San Mateo in 2007 to serve as the problemsolving center for Mid and North Peninsula families. “Through her years of commitment to the well-being of our community, Phyllis has created a legacy that will touch generations to come,” says JFCS Executive Director Dr. Anita Friedman. “We are grateful for her sensitivity as a social service professional and her generosity, and we thank her and her family for their many gifts of time, talents, and resources. We need more people like Phyllis in this world.” H
Phyllis Friedman
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Giving to Causes Dear to Your Heart Many donors establish named funds to honor loved ones and observe lifecycle events such as weddings, b’nai mitzvot, memorials, and graduations. Much of the work of JFCS is supported by over 300 named funds that have been established by visionary donors over the years. All provide life-saving services for the vulnerable and dependent in our community, but each was established because of something or someone who was personally meaningful to the donors(s). These donors name the fund and designates its use, and it exists in perpetuity because of their foresight. Here are some examples of how and why donors have designated the use of their funds.
A Community Affair
Olivia Mitchel Tzedakah Box FUND
Olivia always followed in the footsteps of her big sister, Alyssa. When Alyssa became involved with JFCS’ Team Tzedek program, Olivia would come along and eventually become a participant when she was old enough. When her Bat Mitzvah approached, she took the lead. Along with her family, she established the Olivia Mitchel Tzedakah Box Fund, requesting that her friends and family donate to the fund in lieu of gifts. More than 40 families and friends participated. More and more families are establishing funds to commemorate lifecycle events. If you or a family member has a special celebration coming up, consider using this simcha to support and raise awareness of a cause that is personally meaningful to you. In this way, the event can truly become a community affair.
Brightening a Senior’s Day
The Aaron Spector Take Me Out to the Ballgame Fund
Sometimes you just need one good day to put a smile on your face and take a break from it all. Everyone loves a day at the stadium! The Aaron Spector Take Me Out to the Ballgame Fund, established by Judy and Bob Huret in memory of Judy’s father, provides financial assistance to senior sports fans in the Bay Area so that they have the opportunity to attend local games. By paying for tickets, transportation, refreshments, and other costs associated with attending local sporting events, this fund allows low-income seniors to indulge in their love of sports and enjoy a day outdoors in the sun (or fog) with their peers.
Honoring Those Who Make a Difference
Circle of Life Endowment Fund for Palliative and End
of Life Care Many members of our community have been touched by JFCS’ Palliative and End of Life Care Program (PEOL). Whether they have a family or friends receiving care, the important role that this program serves is well recognized. PEOL is an integrative, collaborative effort of JFCS staff, volunteers, caregivers, patients, and their families. In the spirit of collaboration, the Circle of Life fund was established as a communal initiative by caring staff and volunteers to tackle a communal need in perpetuity.
JFCS professionals are happy to discuss fund options to help you meet your philanthropic goals and respond to community needs. Named fund gifts of $10,000 or more will receive a $3,600 match through December 31, 2012, and donors will be recognized as members of our Carob Tree Society. For more information, contact: Barbara Farber, Director of the Permanent Endowment Fund, at 415-449-3858 or BarbaraF@jfcs.org or Associate Director Tamara Wallenstein at 415-449-1206 or TamaraW@jfcs.org.
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