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Foundation
Laurelwood Receives Jewish Foundation Grant for Philanthropy Project Members of the Women of Vision Society of the Jewish Foundation are making their positive mark on the community and most importantly also helping the next generation of women do so as well. This year, Women of Vision Society awarded a grant to Camp Laurelwood’s Bonim campers to help them learn about philanthropy and tikkun olam. The Bonim Leadership and Travel Program at Camp Laurelwood is a recreational, educational and cultural experience, building character and social skills along with a strong Jewish identity. The program combines community service, counselor training and leadership skills for campers entering 10th grade. With the Women of Vision Society grant, Bonim campers researched and visited a number of local community agencies. Among the agencies chosen by the group were a fellow camp, an animal shelter and Tower One/ Tower East. After a tour of the Towers by Vivian Kantrow, director of development and community relations, and a visit with the residents, campers felt a strong connection with the residents and decided they could make the greatest impact with a gift to them. Later this year, the campers will hand-deliver new siddurim, each with an inscription, to Tower One/Tower East. Haley Ornstein, a Bonim camper explains, “As a camper I’ve always appreciated
new gifts that have been made to Laurelwood, and we wanted to help out in a similar way. There are ways to make a huge difference, even with a smaller gift. Going through this experience made me realize that we all need less than what we have, and that there is always something that we can give back. Even a small gift can make a huge difference. The residents can use the new siddurim every day, and the prayer books will serve as daily reminders of the friendships that we developed with the residents.” The Women of Vision Society is a permanent, restricted endowment fund at the Jewish Foundation dedicated to helping and enhancing the lives of women in our community. The endowment was created in 1996 with its founding 100 members, and has doubled its membership and giving since then. Since 1998, more than $130,000 has been distributed in grants to a wide variety of agencies and causes ranging from employment and literacy to acculturation and health issues. Gifts to the Women of Vision Society can be made in someone’s honor or memory. If requested, a beautiful card can be sent in a lovely gift-wrapped box to the person you are honoring. Please contact Jennifer Bayer at jbayer@jewishnewhaven.org or (203) 387-2424 x320 to learn more.
Grants... continued from page 1 be kept open. Josh Hasbani, Westville Synagogue’s President, said their system was more than 40 years old and beyond repair. “The cost of installing a new system was daunting but we knew we had to do something, we are the hub for social gatherings, weddings and family events. Our service to the community was being severely impeded” he said. The grant will enable the synagogue to provide a more comfortable environment that can function fully yearround.“Our situation was program related,” said Josh Cohen, executive director of BBYO. “Our mission is to provide a more meaningful Jewish experience for our teens. We need to keep them engaged. Unfortunately, Organization
there hasn’t been a program around here in quite a long time.” The grant from the Jewish Federation and Foundation will allow the organization to implement a specific BBYO Connect program in Greater New Haven for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. These are just a few examples of the positive changes the grant initiative is funding. Additional grants will be announced spring 2014. A grants committee consisting of members from both the Foundation and Federation is administering the program and next round of grants. The initial awards are already going a long way to sustain existing services and bring in new ones for young and old.
Amount
BBYO, Inc
$7,500
Program/Project for which Grant Awarded "BBYO Connect" program to engage middle-school students
Congregation B’nai Jacob and Ezra Academy
$87,000
Partial roof replacement
Temple Emanuel of Greater New Haven
$75,000
Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel
$37,000
Capital improvements and modernization of sanctuary and synagogue buildings Replacement of antiquated, broken, non-insulated windows
Congregation Beth Israel (Orchard Street Shul)
$50,000
Installation of elevator to provide accessibility
Congregation Mishkan Israel
$25,000
To increase safety and security through repaving parking lot and fire road, lighting and installation of structures
Congregation Or Shalom
$56,000
Capital projects and improvements
Jewish Family Service of New Haven, Inc.
$100,000
Expansion of existing emergency food program into multi-functional "Food Pantry and Nutritional Health Clinic" to provide social services to the most vulnerable in our community
Jewish High School of Connecticut
$30,000
Jewish educator to develop and lead "Journey: Jewish Teens Program"
The Westville Synagogue
$32,500
Replacement of air conditioning system to ensure sanctuary is usable all year
Total Tranche One Grant Awards $500,000 Note: these monies are from the unrestricted funds of the Jewish Foundation. Unrestricted fund grant awards are in addition to the $1.6 million in distributions ($1.3 million of which was for local Jewish organizations and synagogues) made in the fiscal year ending July 31, 2013, from the Jewish Foundation.
Library Volunteers Needed We need you to be a community librarian… Volunteers needed to help keep our JCC library open. Our library is a community asset which is looking to be utilized more by our JCC community.
Do you like to read and be around books?
Then the JCC would like to have you volunteer at the JCC library. We will train to make you comfortable to work in the library. Contact Ruth Gross at (203) 387-2522 x310 or ruthg@jccnh.org .
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