ewish Pre
FATHER'S DAY GIFT GUIDE-SECOND SECTION VoLIXXK No. 38 Omaha, NE
A Father's Day Salute...
The power of love by Courtney Rabb
CLASS OF2000 GRADUAT Uune 2,2000
Jeff Kirshenbaum, Wendy Goldberg honored with Young Leadership Awards by Sarah Needelman, Federation Communications Intern
Jeff Kirshenbaum has been selected as the 1999 Justin Greenberg Memorial Young Leadership Award winner; f Wendy Goldberg has ' , been selected for the I 1999 Lois Jeanne Schrager Young Leadership Award. They will be honored at the Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Omaha on June 26, 7 p.m., at the Jewish Community Center. Kirshenbaum, nominated by NCJW, is very Jeff Kirshenbaum active in the community. He was elected to the Jewish Community Center Board in 1996 and .serves on the JCC Executive and the Building and Grounds Committees. Jeffrey Aizenberg, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center, saidt, "Jeff has devoted The Spiegal family, back row: Justin; mid- much of his time, as well as his outstanding taldle row: Joseph, Jeffrey and Devra; in front: ents, in helping design and develop operations for the new Phil Sokolof Fitness Center. Jeff has been Andrew. ... Andrew Spiegal was a sophomore at Westside •high School when-his father,'Jeffrey,-was .diagnosed with, cancer. The 16-year-old made the decision to dedicate his time and energy to help care for his dad until his recent death in May. This decision meant giving up time for his friends and school activities. Spiegal was even granted permission to.leave school early so he could go home to help his father with meals, cleaning and simply getting around the house. Andrew did not do this alone; he had the support of his mother, two older brothers and home health nurses. "It was not always easy," explained Spiegal. "Helping Dad up the stairs and getting him dressed were tasks that were often very difficult." Despite loving care, the cancer took Jeffrey Spiegel's life on May 9. He was only 47 years old. Spiegal takes comfort in knowing he was there for his father whenever he needed him. He loved spending time with him and learned to cherish every moment. "By helping my father, I truly learned the value of time.' You never know if one little moment will be the last, so you must enjoy every second," he
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State awards Blumkin Home $60,000 grant
effective not only in leading the Center to providing a first-class, state-ofthe-art facility, but has been able to bring into the Center many young Jewish adults who had been previously working out at other facilities." "Jeff is always willing to volunteer and take an , active role in any project Jjj that requires his knowl/ j edge and expertise," said •'.7 Vicki Sanford, nominat/ J ing chairperson for «r j o , J L NCJW. "Once he sets out Wendy Goldberg to a c c o m p l i 8 h a task> y o u can be well assured the project will be followed through to completion. . Kirshenbaum's other community involvements include: participation in JOLT (Jewish Omaha Leadership Training); a founding member of the Federation's Junior Pacesetter Division; serving as Young Men's Division Co-chairman for the Annual Campaign; past chairman of the JCC Health and (Continued on page 7)
JCC garners awards at Biennial by Wendy Goldberg
by Barbara Gottlieb; JSS ExecutiveDirector
The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, in collaboration with Ray Weinberg. of Silverstone Consulting and ARAMARK, the food service provider for the Jewish Senior Services, have received a $60,000 grant from the State of Nebraska to work together on a project that will positively impact the residents' quality of care. Ray Weinberg and I first met to discuss the need for help in the area of human resources. With the labor situation being so severe in the state and the nation, we realized steps needed to be taken to impact staff retention. Tom Moloney, Program Coordinator for the Nebraska Worker Training Program, was notified about the need to fund a training program that would help both the managers and the "hands-on" s a i d . ;.;'.. • : " • • ' • - • . . staff in the areas of orientation, re-orientation for For Spiegal, this is exactly what he did and current staff, supervisory training, communication, every day with his father became a favorite mem- recognizing employee contributions, coaching/men; ory. toring and team leadership. • As a~ result of Spiegel's constant care for his The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home is the first nonfather, he has been recognized with a Profile of profit health care facility to receive such a grant Excellence Award from KMTV-Channel 3, Silvia Rqftman, Board President stated, "We have Children's Hospital and American National the best nursing and administrative personnel a t : Bank. He won the award in the "Family Ties" this home and anything we can do to retain these category. good employees will only benefit the residents, who K Spiegal is not only proud of his award but deserve the best* , pleased with the message it sends to the Omaha During this one-year training session, the followcommunity. ing goals have been outlined: ,' "It shows people how much I love my dad and • Improve measurable quality of care and quality how much time and energy I spent helping him," of life for residents at the Home. he noted. •Develop a model, for assessing and improving Spiegal, now a junior at .Westside, does not employee retention for three industries characterknow what the future holds, but he will follow his ized by high turnover- long term care; food service father's advice. •; • ' and housekeeping. ' • ; "My dad told me I should only choose an occu• Measure results of retention program. ; pation I really care about," Spiegal recalled. "I • Develop a management program that is selfknow my father will be proud of me as long as I perpetuating and carries on beyond the grant year. 1 amhappy/ (Continued on page 11)
Wendy Goldberg,Mark $»nfbnl, Kiinberly Robinson and Jeffrey Aizenbefff attended the Jewish Community Centers Association Biennial fait month in. Boston. (Not pictured: VtddSanford) ; The Omaha JCC was recognized with Awards for Achievement in Marketing, Membership Development, and Revenue Development;'and received a Merit Award for its brochures. Our new JCC facility was a highlight at a workshop entitled, "Concrete Visions from the Field: Architecture, Parenting and Programming." Architect and JCC President Mark Sanford. was invited to share a presentation focusing on our state of the art Child Development Center. Sanford's presentation was "spectacular," according to participants. The slide presentation included sketched drawings of the initial visions by parents and staff,.images of construction as well as of children enjoying the center. V. •'"•.•'•• :'•.r:'"' (Continued on page 11)