JEWISH FEDERATION
January 2024
Federation Star
3
Growing our Jewish community with your help Jeffrey Feld Federation President/ CEO
S
halom! First, I want to thank and congratulate Rosalee Bogo for being our annual community campaign chair. I also want to thank Alicia Feldman, our development director. The two of them are a great team. In addition, I would like to thank everyone on the campaign cabinet for everything they have done and everything that they’re going to do, and I would like to thank all of the Federation staff for helping to make last month’s annual campaign kickoff possible. Federation is stereotypically seen as the organization that calls you to ask for money. There is certainly some truth to that. But more importantly, Federation is the organization that uses those monies to help Jews in our community, our Jewish communal partners in this community, and to help Jews in need — the world over and especially in Israel. Federation provides allocations and funding to ensure we have a vital and vibrant Jewish community. Rather than going into specific allocations, let me just highlight what Federation helps make possible, by listing benefits you, your family or someone you know may have already received:
1) Your child/grandchild participates in BBYO B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, Jewish continuity. 2) Your child/grandchild participates in PJ Library. 3) You or your child/grandchild participated in Jewish life on a college campus, like a Hillel campus Chabad. 4) You participated in or attended the Jewish Film Festival from Beth Tikvah or the Sidney R Hoffman Memorial Jewish Film Festival from JCMI. 5) You or your child/grandchild has attended a Jewish day camp or Jewish sleep-away camp. Federation has been very helpful in providing financial needbased scholarships in a confidential way for families who might otherwise not be able to afford to send their children to this type of a program. 6) You or a family member have attended one or more sessions of a cultural series presented by various congregations. 7) You, a relative or someone you know is receiving benefits from the Holocaust Survivor program at the Baker Senior Center Naples or perhaps even assistance of some form for geriatric case management for frail elderly. 8) You or someone you know has participated in a Jewish Day of Learning from our JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council) or attended a Kristallnacht commemoration by the Catholic Jewish dialogue of our JCRC. Also, the antisemitism task force is helpful to our community, which comes from our JCRC.
9) You or someone you know has visited the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center. 10) You or someone you know has participated in socialization and/or informal education programs the Federation helps to provide, such as Jewish Book Festival; WCA; MCA; Jewish Russian Cultural Alliance; Chanukah Menorah Lighting, which we were able to do for the entirety of Chanukah this year in our backyard; and, of course, the annual community menorah lighting in Mercato. 11) You or someone you know has participated in a Federation mission to Israel or a Jewish community in some other part of the world — Ukraine, Russia, Ethiopia, Cuba, etc. Or you might have had a relative that participated in Birthright Israel. 12) You or someone you know has participated in programs we have supported in Israel, such as Yad LaKashish, Neve Michael, Ethiopian National Project, Special in Uniform or the fortified playground and Sderot. Folks, we partner with all the Jewish congregations in our community: Temple Shalom, Beth Tikvah, Chabad of Naples, Naples Jewish Congregation, Chabad of Bonita Springs and Jewish Congregation of Marco Island. We work together in the best interest of our Jewish community. All that I have mentioned, and more, is what Federation helps to provide, thanks to your support of the annual community campaign. I am proud and pleased to say that basically 100% of the people who attended
the annual campaign kickoff indicated that Federation is a part of their lives and what they do. At the 2024 Annual Community Campaign Kickoff, I indicated that we have a goal of $1,750,000 this year and I thanked each and every one of you for being caring, committed and generous. Because of you, we have built a vital and vibrant Jewish community. The annual community campaign supports the core of everything that we do. The needs continue to grow. In fact, the needs grow faster than the campaign. We need your help to keep our community strong. This is an appeal! Think about everything that we have — that we want to keep — in our community. Your gift to the annual community campaign is what will allow us to keep providing these kinds of opportunities. If you would like to make your pledge, please contact Rosalee Bogo, Alicia Feldman or me. We also have a campaign cabinet who will be calling you to discuss your commitment for the 2024 annual community campaign. Please remember it is because of you that we have built a great community. We are asking you to make sure that it continues to grow and stay strong. We use the expression “Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh L’Zeh.” “All Israel is responsible one for each other.” Please do all that you can and be responsible for maintaining and sustaining and growing our Jewish community! Todah Rabah!
E ACH NE W DAY, A NE W ADVENTURE .
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