The Jewish Press | April 15, 2022 | 3
J-Serve 2022 Recap
News LOCA L | N ATION AL | WORLD
Ellie Penner
JACOB GELTZER BBYO/Teen Program Director What a day we had at J-Serve 2022. On April 3, BBYO, Young Jewish Giving, Beth El, Temple Israel, and Beth Israel teamed up our middle school and high school members for a day of service to give back to our community. Teen planners Eva Bloom and Benjamin Kutler decided that this year’s J-Serve program would involve giving back to those in need. This year, we partnered with Kids Against Hunger to pack meals for the local food banks in Omaha. Kids Against Hunger is a nonprofit humanitarian organization with a mission to provide fully nutritious food to impoverished children and families around the world, and around the corner. The goal of the organization is for the meals to provide a stable nutritional base from which recipient families can move their families from starvation or food insecurity to self-sufficiency. Not only did we hit our goal and pack 3,000 apple cinnamon oatmeal packets, but we did it within 30 minutes! Participants enjoyed making a competition about which packing line could pack their meals the fastest, and knew that they were making a direct impact to people’s lives in Omaha. We can’t wait to participate in our next day of service soon. This program was supported in part by the generosity of the Special Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation.
Continued from page 1 whether in Tucson or Overland Park. Upon moving to Omaha in 1969, Ellie became a very active volunteer in the community. She served on the Board of Directors and as president of the NCJW-Omaha Section, and as secretary of NCJW’s Central District. Ellie was on the JCC Board and was Chair of the JCC Membership and Dance Committees. She also served on the JCC and Jewish Federation Nominating Committees, the Federation’s Budget & Allocation Committee, and on the Federation Board of Directors. Teaming up with others, Ellie worked on executing the first Teen Trip to Israel in 1987. In the greater Omaha area, Ellie served on the board and then as President of Planned Parenthood of Omaha/Council Bluffs. Jan Goldstein said, “I had the opportunity to work with Ellie professionally in the early 1990s for a short time, at the very beginning of my career, when she trained me to take over for her upon deciding to retire — for the first time! This was the Federation Women’s Campaign Director position, and Ellie defined it to its best.” Ellie worked for the Federation from fall 1985 to fall 1990. She served as the Federation Women’s Division Director, coordinating the Super Sunday campaign, and the annual meeting. She also directed a yearlong young leadership training program, a Midwest Women’s Mission to Israel, and coordinated the Welcome to Omaha program. In the fall of 1999, Ellie moved to Tucson, Arizona. She kept up to date on the events and people in the Omaha Jewish community through the Jewish Press. Three years after moving to Tucson, Ellie saw an ad in the Jewish Press for a Membership Services Coordinator/Assistant to the Director of an Overland Park synagogue. Ellie applied for the position and was hired. She moved to Overland Park, working at the synagogue for five years. After her time at the synagogue, Ellie
worked part-time at the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City until her retirement in 2010. Although retired, Ellie is not a ‘retiring’ type of person. She tries to keep active in mind and body every day. She keeps it physical with line dancing or water aerobics in Sun City, Arizona, and, while in Overland Park, Ellie will participate in a YouTube workout or Silver Sneakers aerobics class. For the last two winters, Ellie was the recording secretary for her line dancing club, and she also submits an article for the Sun City monthly publication. She reads every day, preferably fiction, and keeps up with current events. She also works on different word games and puzzles, which she describes as “relaxation.” However, Ellie admits that she does not feel compelled to do something every day, and gives herself permission to spend a day in her pajamas when she feels like it. Although she moved away from Omaha in the fall of 1990, Omaha has remained a part of Ellie Penner’s life. Ellie said, “I consider the 30 years I lived in Omaha as my most productive and meaningful. It was, first as a volunteer for Omaha Section, NCJW and then as an employee for the Jewish Federation of Omaha that I developed the skills (communication, interpersonal, and administrative) that allowed me to gain confidence and accept additional challenges.” Jan said, “The principles, beliefs and motivations we discussed in that office and the way she showed me how I needed to reach out to as many people in the community as I could are the fundamentals of what we do today and what brings us to where we are now at this point in time. This is what Ellie Penner is doing today by endowing her gift. She is doing what she asked others to do and what has been important to her throughout her life, ensuring the continuity of a strong Jewish community here in Omaha and for the Jewish people.” It is gratifying when former Omahans remember our city so See Ellie Penner page 4
CHAIRS: Nancy Schlessinger • Cindy Goldberg • Jess Cohn • Ally Freeman • Ellie Novak • Hillary Rubesin
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 6:00-8:00 p.m. Women’s Philanthropy of Jewish Federation of Omaha thanks you for your support and invites you to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished together. Please join us for a festive cocktail hour and an intimate
Speaker
Deirdre Haj Executive Director, Film Streams
conversation with Deirdre Haj, Executive Director, Film Streams. Ms. Haj will speak candidly about being a Jewish woman, coming up the ranks in the lucrative film industry and why diversity in filmmaking is more important than ever.
Film Streams Dundee / Lola’s 4952 Dodge Street | Omaha, Nebraska 68132
Please RSVP by April 28th online at jewishomaha.org or scan QR code.
For more information about this event please email Stacy Feldman at sfeldman@jewishomaha.org
