Columbus

THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.

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JewishColumbus
@JewishColumbus

Columbus
2012 Annual Report

Programs Supported by Columbus Jewish Federation

Columbus
BOARD
2012-13 Executive Board
Michael Canter - Chair
Gordon Hecker - President
Jeff Coopersmith - Immediate Past Chair
Robin Bernstein - Vice Chair, Jewish Community Relations
Judy Brachman
Jennifer Cammeyer
Jon Diamond
Dr. Jonathan Feibel - Vice Chair, Finance & Administration
Eric Fingerhut - Vice Chair, Jewish Education & Identity
Al Friedman - Honorary Finance Chair
Joy Gonsiorowski - Secretary
Arnie Good - Vice Chair, Israel & Overseas

Jason Judd - Treasurer

Scott Kleinman - Assistant Treasurer
Steven Schottenstein
Ray Silverstein
Ezra Singer
Joy Soll - Vice Chair, Campaign
Audrey Tuckerman - Vice Chair, Leadership Development
Eric Wasserstrom
Julie Weinerman - Vice Chair, Community Planning & AllocatIons
Brad Kastan - President, Columbus Jewish Foundation
Rabbi Sharon Mars - President Board of Rabbis

2012-13 Community Board

2012 Funds Raised: $6,250,000

approximately 9% of total used to cover campaign costs
Total Allocable Funds: $5,560,000
 onnecting our Jewish Community
C
$1,500,000

Ensuring our Jewish Future

$2,240,000

Advocating for Jewish Causes

$1,820,000

Nursing Care for Seniors

Aid for At-Risk Individuals and Families
Senior Life Enhancement Programs
Case Management for Seniors
Transportation for Seniors
Social Services for Seniors
Career and Workforce Development Services
Cultural Competency for Holocaust Survivors
Case Management for Holocaust Survivors
Jewish Indigent Burial
Domestic Violence Prevention
Community Chaplaincy
Deaf Interpreters for Synagogue Services
Chabad Friendship Circle
Leahs List
Community Planning
Repairs to Community-Owned Buildings

Jewish Preschool Programming

Jewish Preschool Scholarships
Jewish Day Schools
Jewish Day Camp Programming
Jewish Day Camp Scholarships
Jewish Overnight Camp Grants
Jewish Afterschool Programs
Outreach to NE/NW Columbus
Leadership Development Programs
Young Adult Division
Growing Jewish Columbus
JET & BBYO
Programming and Religious Services

for Jewish Students at OSU
Columbus Community Kollel
Moishe House
PJ Library
Supplemental Jewish Education
Special Needs Inclusion
Melton Mini School
Professional Development for Educators

Humanitarian Needs in Israel

and Overseas Jewish Communities
Ohio Jewish Communities
Holocaust Education
Birthright Israel and Masa
Israel Emissary Program
Columbus-Israel Partnership Program
OSU-Hillel Israel Fellow
Israel Advocacy on Campus
Jewish Community Relations Committee
Hunger Relief in Former Soviet Union
After School Care for At-Risk Children

in Kfar Saba, Israel
Support Services for At-Risk Israeli Youth
Ben Shemen Youth Village

for Orphaned Children
Education Support and Professional
Development for Israeli Ethiopian Women
Israel Guide Dog
Leket, Israels Largest Food Bank

Greg Adams
Rabbi Benji Bar-Lev
Terri Barnett
Ruth Ann Blank
Rita Eppler
Shari George
Jenny Glick
Sheila Hirsch
Irina Katon
Brett Kaufman
Emily Kreindler
Heidi Levey
Michael Levin
Connie Mayerson
Jon Milenthal
Lisa Newmark
Barbara Sanderow
Mike Schlonsky
Howard Schottenstein
Olga Serdyuk

Toby Brief - Columbus Jewish Historical Society Board Chair

Andrew Brodey - Jewish Family Services Board Chairman
Dan Chase - CTA Board President
Natalie Cohen - Agudas Achim President
Barbara Crabill - Temple Israel Board President
Edward Friedman - Columbus Community Kollel President
Hilda Glazer - Temple Beth Shalom President
Robin Judd - CJDS Chair
Patty Price - Beth Tikvah President
Martin Rosenthal - Tifereth Israel President
David Schwartz - Ahavas Sholom President
Robert Shapiro - Beth Jacob President
Alan Shatz - Torat Emet/Main Street Synagogue President
Aaron Shocket - OSU Hillel Board Chairman
Joe Sniderman - JCC Board Chairman
Mike Schottenstein - Young Adult Division Chair - Ex Officio
Merom Brachman - JCPA Board Representative - Ex Officio

STAFF
Gordon E. Hecker
President & Chief Executive Officer

Jeff Brenner, CPA

Controller

Alyssa Russell
Educational Services Coordinator

Bill Franklin
Vice President, Community Planning
& Finance

Marla Davis
YAD Director

Lori Stan Sachs

Project Coordinator

Cheryl Dritz
Adult Education and Professional
Development Coordinator

Miriam Segaloff
Assistant to the President

Gary B. Robins
Vice President for Donor Relations and
Special Projects
Rabbi Idit Jacques Solomon, MAJE
Vice President, Jewish Education
& Identity & Community Services
Matt Youngner
Vice President for Campaign Operations

Noam Even
Community Shaliach
Janet Gladstone
Database Manager
Stacie Klein
YAD Coordinator
Nancy Rosen
Director of Outreach and Engagement

April Seymour
Finance Administrator
Liat Shaked
Young Community Shilicha
Shelley Uhler
Campaign Administrative Assistant
Linda Valinsky, CPA
Accounting Supervisor

ADVOCATING

GAVE

84

TEENS AND YOUNG

ADULTS ATRANSFORMATIVE ISRAEL
EXPERIENCE

FOR

JEWISH

FEDERATION

PRESIDENT & CEO

ENSURED THAT

2,100

LOCAL SCHOOL
CHILDREN LEARNED
THELESSONS OF THE
HOLOCAUST

We can make our

Jewish voice heard.

We Strengthen Ties to Israel and Overseas

Jewish Communities by connecting people
and fulfilling our responsibility to care for the
Jewish people wherever they live. We sponsor
community missions to Israel that give people
from Columbus the opportunity to connect
with the Jewish homeland in new and
inspiring ways.

In February, when Marsha Hurwitz announced her

plans to leave for another opportunity, I began to
seriously think about taking the leap and turning
my passion for volunteering in the Jewish
community into my profession. After interviewing
with dozens of people in the community over
the past few months, I have now been appointed
President and CEO of Columbus Jewish Federation.
I am humbled and honored to take on this leadership role. I am grateful to Marsha who has been a
mentor and friend for many years. I am grateful to
the hardworking staff at the Federation who work
long days to make this community great. And I am
grateful to the lay leaders who regularly sacrifice
their family time to enhance our Jewish lives.
I take on this role at an exciting time. Over the
past year, a diverse group of community members
has been developing a new vision for our Jewish
community and re-defining the Federations
mission. The chart below is a working draft of
that vision and mission. The form and details

We support exchange programs with our

partnership city of Kfar Saba, Israel, that
build one-on-one relationships that will last a
lifetime and tie us together as a people. And
we provide food, clothing and medicine to the
most impoverished Jews living in Russia and
Eastern Europe.
We Mobilize Community When Action is
Required. When Israels safety is threatened,
the Federation is the first place our community turns to coalesce and respond. When
someone in our community is the victim of
anti-Semitism, their first call is to the
Federation. We work with the Department
of Homeland Security to maintain the safety
of our Jewish communal spaces and alert the
community in the event of a threat.

MESSAGE
FROM THE

CAUSES

The Federation Builds Local Relationships and

Educates on Key Issues. We work with local
and state government officials to make sure
that the interests of the Jewish community are
well represented. We form working friendships with other faith communities so that
when crises arise we have the knowledge and
relationships necessary to handle them. We
educate school children and the public on
issues surrounding the Holocaust, teaching
lessons of tolerance and the important
message that we must never forget.

may change in the coming months, but I believe

it contains some core truths: we have the ability
to prevent anyone in our Jewish community from
going hungry or homeless; we can deepen our
understanding of others in our secular community
through increased interfaith dialogue; we can
enhance our relationships with Jews in Israel and
Overseas; we can teach our children to be proud of
who they are and ensure that the next generation
not only survives, but that it thrives. The Federation
has a critical role to play in making sure the Columbus
Jewish community reaches its full potential. Jewish
Columbus has long had a reputation as an innovator
and leader around the Jewish world. Together we
have the opportunity to further enhance that
reputation and strive to be at the forefront of
the next renaissance in Jewish life.

Gordon Hecker
Federation President & CEO

Columbus Jewish Community Vision:

To be a thriving Jewish community at the forefront of the next renaissance in Jewish life
CONNECTED OVER

1,000

PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

FROM COLUMBUS AND
KFAR SABA, ISRAEL,
THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
2000 (P2K) INITIATIVES

GAVE

40,000
FOOD PACKAGES TO

HOMEBOUND SENIORS
IN THE FORMER
SOVIET UNION

Jewish Federation of Columbus is committed to leading the Jewish

community to achieve this vision by focusing on three areas:

Connecting the
Jewish Community

Ensuring our
Jewish Future

Advocating for
Jewish Causes

Guarantee community
safety net

Identify, educate and

inspire leaders

Build local relationships

and educate on key issues

Drive cross organizational

collaboration

Increase focus on NextGen

and Young Families

Strengthen ties to Israel and

overseas Jewish communities

Build Alignment on
Community Priorities

Reinforce outreach to
underserved constituencies

Mobilize community
when action is required

PROVIDED FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE, FOOD AND
SHELTER TO

217

JEWISH PEOPLE
EXPERIENCING LIFE
TRAUMAS

CONNECTING
OUR

ENSURING

500

Children had the

chance to attend
best-in-class
Jewish preschools

OUR

JEWISH

JEWISH

COMMUNITY

FUTURE

13,000
HOT MEALS TO
SENIORS IN
COLUMBUS

DeliveredJewish
books and music
every month to

ASSISTED

262

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
WITH REPARATION AND
COMPENSATION
APPLICATIONS

We have the ability to prevent anyone in our Jewish

community from going hungry or homeless
The Federation Guarantees a Community
Safety Net by supporting programs that
feed, clothe, shelter and counsel hundreds of
needy Jews in Central Ohio. This year, with
unemployment levels near historic highs, and
families and seniors struggling to meet their
most basic needs, more people are searching
for help than ever before.

ENSURED THAT

500

SENIORS WERE ABLE TO

LIVE THEIR LIVES IN
COMFORT AND DIGNITY
ATWEXNER HERITAGE
VILLAGE

We Drive Cross-Organizational Collaboration

to better leverage existing programs and
services and utilize the communitys resources
more efficiently. This includes areas like senior
care and transportation, retaining local college
graduates and incorporating them into the
community, and exploring shared physical
spaces and professional services.

We Build Alignment on Community Priorities

by convening local constituencies, including
agencies, synagogues and individuals. We
lead the community discussion to determine
how best to allocate resources to achieve our
priorities and we facilitate these decisions by
providing data and benchmarking from other
communities.

We can teach our children to be proud

of who they are.
The Federation Identifies, Educates and
Inspires Leaders for the entire Jewish
communtiy. Strong leadership cannot be overrated and we plan on building a comprehensive
leadership development program.
We will Increase the Focus on NextGen and
Young Families by funding programs that
connect children and young adults to the
Jewish community and each other, and enable
families to live full Jewish lives. This includes
scholarships and grants for children to attend
Jewish preschools, day schools, overnight
camps, and summer camps; innovative
programs like the PJ Library; and young
adult activities through YAD and the new
Moishe House in Victorian Village.

We ReinforceOutreach to Underserved
Constituencies by partnering to create new
programming and reach people where they
live. This work includes reaching out to the
growing population in northwest Columbus
and new residents throughout Central Ohio;
reconnecting with the Russian Jewish
community that first came to Columbus 20
years ago; continuing to welcome intermarried
families; and building bridges to the LGBT
community.

406

children through
the PJ Library

ENABLED

1,200

STUDENTS TO ATTEND
JEWISH DAY AND
RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS

HELPED TO PROVIDE
AJEWISH HOME ON
CAMPUSFOR MORE THAN

3,000

COLLEGE STUDENTS