May 25, 2007

(San Francisco, CA) — Through its annual recognition awards, the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties and its Endowment Fund will pay tribute to an exemplary group of individuals and programs that have made outstanding contributions to the Bay Area Jewish community. This year’s winners will be announced at the Federation’s 97th annual meeting on Thursday, June 7, 2007 at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco.

Awards of Excellence

The Jewish Community Federation’s Awards of Excellence honor those who have shown excellence in service and leadership within the Jewish community. Candidates are nominated by their peers in four categories; Volunteer of the Year, Program of the Year, Agency Staff Person of the Year and Jewish Community Federation Staff Person of the Year. The Federation also recognizes excellence in leadership through the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Young Leadership and the Robert Sinton Award for Distinguished Leader of the Year. This year, a new award is being added — the Visionary Leader Award — created to recognize a particular individual who has made an extraordinary and generous investment in the Jewish future and who has provided long-term, significant resources to support innovative programs that meet a wide spectrum of community needs.

The 2007 Jewish Community Federation Awards of Excellence recipients:

• Volunteer of the Year: Paul Resnick
• Agency Staff Person of the Year: Flora Kupferman, Bureau of Jewish Education
• Jewish Community Federation Staff Person of the Year: Dawne Bear Novicoff, Director, Israel & Overseas
• Program of the Year: Communities of Learning
• Visionary Leader Award: Helen Diller
• Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Young Leadership: Judith Goldkrand Cheskin
• Sinton Award for Distinguished Leader of the Year: Ron Kaufman

Helen Diller Family Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education

The Helen Diller Family Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education pay tribute to educators who have made an extraordinary impact on the youth of the Jewish community through early childhood, day, congregational and community school settings, as well as through informal educational programs.

These awards are funded by a grant from the Helen Diller Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund through the Fund’s Imprint program.

This year’s Award recipients are

• Congregational/Community School: Sacha Kopin, Contra Costa Midrasha and Temple Sinai Religious School
• Day School: Shirley Goldstein, Yavneh Day School
• Day School: Marni Shapiro, Brandeis Hillel Day School — Marin
• Early Childhood Education: Patricia Perez, JCCSF Helen Diller Family Preschool
• Informal Education: Emily Scheinberg, the Contemporary Jewish Museum

Grinspoon — Steinhardt Award

The Grinspoon-Steinhard Award, funded by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, is designed to recognize, honor and support outstanding classroom Jewish educators.

This year’s regional winner is

• Gavriella “Gabi” Lazar, Congregation Emanu-El Youth & Family Education

For more information about the 2007 winners, click here.

Recipients will be honored at the Federation’s 97th annual meeting, on Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. This event brings together the community to reflect upon the achievements of the past year, thank members of the Federation “family” for their dedication and commitment and welcome collectively envision our future.

The Jewish Community Federation is the central organization for fundraising, planning, outreach and leadership development for Jewish communities in San Francisco, the Peninsula, and Marin and Sonoma counties. In fiscal year 2006, the Federation’s annual campaign allocated $18.3 million to some 60 agencies providing social services, educational and cultural programs in the Bay Area, in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere in the world; and the Federation’s Endowment Fund, with assets exceeding $1.8 billion, provided more than $203 million for a variety of grants, seed projects and emergency needs. For more information, call 415.777.0411 or visit www.sfjcf.org.