A Sampling of Current Needs to Consider in Your Charitable Giving

The Jewish Community Endowment Fund is often asked by donors and philanthropic partners to provide information on current needs in the community. We would like to make you aware of some priority needs, each of which offers the opportunity to partner with other funders to leverage your philanthropic dollars and make an even greater impact. 

Below is only a sampling of current needs, and JCEF staff is always available to provide information on needs in your areas of interest, whether in the Jewish or general communities, locally, nationally, or overseas. 

• Caring for the Vulnerable
• Educating & Engaging our Diverse Jewish Community
• Promoting Israel & Jewish Peoplehood Around the World
• Jewish Community Federation 2010 Annual Campaign

Caring for the Vulnerable

» Employment & Workforce Development, Jewish Vocational Service

Demand for services from JVS has doubled this year. Actual client intake at JVS is up 50% and JVS is now carrying a caseload of more than 2,000 clients. To meet the rising needs, JVS requires additional employment specialist staff to provide job placement assistance to laid off workers and others affected by the region's skyrocketing unemployment.

» Assistance to Families in Crisis, Jewish Family and Children’s Services

Requests for help to JFCS have increased by more than 25% as a result of the economic crisis. More than 4,000 Jewish families are receiving assistance including crisis counseling and emergency financial aid for food, shelter, medicines, and other urgent needs as part of a personalized plan designed to help each family regain their self-sufficiency. In Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, JFCS provides comprehensive care to our community’s most vulnerable children, families and elderly, and ensures that no one is alone in their time of greatest need.

» Community-wide Senior Transportation Voucher Fund, Jewish Community Federation

Senior transportation is a matter of health and survival, as it enables seniors to get to core activities such as medical appointments, support services, and grocery shopping. It also enables our seniors to maintain quality of life through active engagement and participation in the community. Support in any amount can be directed to the community-wide voucher fund, which enables seniors to access specialized programs and activities.

For information on these and other current grant needs in caring for vulnerable individuals, please contact JCEF Program Officer Laura Mason at 415.512.6273 or email lauram@sfjcf.org.

» Scholarship & Tuition Assistance, Jewish Community Federation

All of the Federation-area day schools have experienced significant increases in demand for tuition assistance, and mid-year scholarship funding will be needed. 25% of Jewish pre-schools already report withdrawals due to financial hardship. JCF is stepping up to meet these growing needs with increased scholarship funding for:

Since more Bay Area Jewish children are educated by congregational schools than other Jewish institutions, with adequate funding, tuition assistance could be provided for congregational schools as well.

For information on supporting scholarship needs, please contact JCEF Director of Imprint Giving Judy Bloom at 415.512.6263 or email to judyb@sfjcf.org.

Educating & Engaging our Diverse Jewish Community

Investing in innovative approaches to communal issues remains vital to the strength and vitality of the Jewish community in future generations. The Jewish Community Federation is leading initiatives in the following areas:

» The Early Childhood Education Initiative

Currently, only one-third of Jewish children in our community attend a Jewish preschool due to limited space, affordability, or lack of Jewish connection. The Federation’s Early Childhood Education Initiative creates a strong network of “Jewishly-rich” preschool programs staffed by highly qualified teachers and increases the number of young Jewish families choosing Jewish preschools for their children. The initiative also seeks to create innovative ways of engaging parents of young children during this most promising period, even if they are not using a Jewish preschool. This ECEI initiative is in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation.

For additional information, please contact JCEF Senior Program Officer Amy Rabbino at 415.512.6212 or email amyr@sfjcf.org, or JCF Director of the Early Childhood Education Initiative Janet Harris at 415.499.1223 x8104 or email janeth@sfjcf.org.

» Jewish Community Relations Council Intergroup Relations Project

Engages Jews in building relationships with members of diverse ethnic populations, including Christian, Asian, Latino, Muslim, and African-American communities. This program reaches hundreds of Jews and individuals from other ethnic and faith communities to develop cross-cultural understanding and coalitions around public policy issues of common concern.

» Youth Philanthropy Initiative

The Endowment Fund’s direct support of Youth Philanthropy, through its award-winning Jewish Community Teen Foundations, and support of Jewish day school and congregational school Seventh Grade Philanthropic Projects, trains hundreds of local teens in philanthropy — making them aware of current needs as well as helping them think about big picture issues as well.

Additional funding is needed to support the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Initiative which offers year-long Teen Foundation programs in San Francisco/Marin, the North Peninsula, the South Peninsula and the East Bay. This funding will help involve even more teens in the hands-on practice of Jewish values through philanthropy, from developing the missions of their foundation boards to reaching consensus on grant decisions that benefit both the general and Jewish communities.

For additional information, please contact JCEF Director of Imprint Giving Judy Bloom at 415.512.6263 or email judyb@sfjcf.org. If you are interested in any of these funds, please specify which fund.

Promoting Israel & Jewish Peoplehood Around the World

» Promoting Jewish Pluralism, Gvanim “Hues of a Color”

Gvanim is an intensive Israeli educational program that spreads the message of Jewish pluralism to ever-widening circles of Israelis by developing and implementing projects across the country. Each year, Gvanim chooses 20 participants who reflect the entire mosaic of Israeli society – Orthodox through Secular – all of whom are leaders in their professional field. The program includes a visit to the Bay Area to showcase pluralistic Jewish life in the community. Gvanim remains the only program which links study and social action and requires its participants to develop community-based action programs to foster Jewish identity and promote pluralism.

Jewish Community Federation 2010 Annual Campaign

Your contribution to the 2010 Campaign provides critical, unrestricted support for operations, capital planning, and technical assistance (such as strategic planning and evaluation support) for our community’s core Jewish communal institutions, including social, vocational and family service organizations, senior housing, Jewish community centers, educational programming from early childhood to adulthood, and arts and cultural institutions. Maintaining the capacity of the Annual Campaign to meet these core needs is paramount in today’s economic climate. In addition, the Campaign provides support to strengthen Israeli civil society and promotes democracy, Jewish pluralism, equality of opportunity and social justice in Israel.

Are you interested in helping to build infrastructure in the Jewish community?

The JCEF works in partnership with many local agencies and synagogues to develop and sustain capital projects. For additional information, please contact Mark Reisbaum, Chief Endowment Officer (at 415.512.6251 or email markr@sfjcf.org).