State of the Federation

Jane Schiff, Federation Board Chair

Last year, I ended my report by stating, “Our Federation is growing and thriving despite difficult times. We need each other more now than ever, even though the social distancing makes it impossible to be close. We can still be close virtually and emotionally.”

And that is how I choose to start this year’s report. We are close, while being physically distant; we need each other more now than ever; and our Federation is growing and thriving.

This past year was one of adaptation. We learned to Zoom without ever leaving our homes. The most used phrase of the year was “you have to unmute yourself so we can hear you.” We Zoomed for life cycle events, we Zoomed for holidays, and we Zoomed for all our Federation meetings and programs. We stayed in touch and we learned, we connected, and we moved forward.

All that Zooming meant some fancy footwork to learn how to make large and small gatherings happen. Our staff figured it out, and because of our staff, we found ways to be together. Again this year, as in past years, the Federation thrives because of our staff and the way they work so closely with our volunteers.

Thank you to our staff

Jeffrey Feld, our President and CEO, is the quiet, driving force that keeps it all together. He is the most diplomatic and effective CEO I can imagine. He produces large-city results with small-city resources. His staff adores him and we all deeply appreciate his tenacity, his vision, his results and his warm inclusive personality.

Feld is tireless, dedicated and passionate. He is respected throughout our community and we are indeed lucky to have him as our leader. Thank you, Jeffrey, for all that you do for our community.

Our Community Program Director, Reneé Bialek, is the force behind the majority of our Zoom events. She staffs our Jewish Book Festival, the IAC (Israel Advocacy Committee), JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council), PJ Library, Mix and Mingle, Jewish Professionals, Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, Yom HaShoah, Jewish Day of Learning, and more. She has been busier than ever, with everything being online. Thank you, Reneé.

Marcy Friedland is our Capital Campaign Director and Planned Giving Director. We have been in high gear with our Capital Campaign fundraising, and Marcy has overseen every detail. We hired an outside fundraising firm, Amplify Partners, with whom Marcy has worked very closely in addition to our ongoing efforts. Thank you, Marcy.

Teresa Zimmerman, our Finance and Operations Manager, works with our Finance and Audit Committee to keep our books transparent. In addition, she oversees, fixes and manages the day-to-day operations necessary to run our organization. Teresa works with the Treasurer of Federation, WCA and MCA as well as being on call for any questions that arise. Thank you, Teresa.

Never has technology been so important to us all. It is our link to each other and the world, and Nathan Ricklefs, our Database Manager, keeps it all running smoothly for us. He is the answer man whenever the question is technology. And he is the person who has helped us be in your homes through Zoom. Thank you, Nathan.

Janine Hudak performs many of the administrative duties that keep tabs on each member and assists staff with their needs. She is the answer woman when you call the office with a question or just need to connect with a staff person. Thank you, Janine, and to the entire staff.

Ellen Weiss is the Executive Director of TOP, the Tampa Orlando Pinellas Jewish Foundation, which, as our endowment/planned giving department, works with us and our donors to achieve each person’s philanthropic goals. Thank you, Ellen.

Thank you to our volunteers

The staff is joined by the volunteers. The Board of Directors, all of us volunteers, has been a very special group this past year. So many of our leaders have been leaders in other walks of life and bring a plethora of skills and loads of energy.

The many committee members, committee chairs and volunteers for each event make me marvel at the level of commitment I see daily. The hours and hours of volunteer time expended on behalf of our Jewish community is the reason, along with our exceptional staff, that we are growing, thriving and successful.

On the board level, we have standing committees that oversee the business end of the Federation — The Allocations; Governance and Nominating; Finance and Audit; and Development committees are the backbone of our organization. In addition, this year, the Building Committee and its subcommittees have been ridiculously busy, planning for and creating an amazing future home for our Federation that you will hear about later in this article. The expertise from our community helping in this effort has allowed us to make excellent decisions.

The group that guides us the most in those financial decisions is the Finance and Audit Committee, which oversees all our budgeting and issues related to our administration and controls. Elliot Lerner, as Treasurer, and Steve Strome, as Finance and Audit Committee chair, lead this committee, overseeing it all. We again had a “clean” audit from independent auditors.

The Governance and Nominating Committee is co-chaired by our immediate past Board Chair, Alvin Becker, and Amanda Dorio. They make sure we operate according to the rules set forth by our bylaws.

WCA and MCA had programs 24/6 — there’s no way to mention all their offerings. They currently have a combined membership close to 2,500 members. The growth and vibrancy of both organizations produces pride and a specialness to our Jewish Naples community that is the envy of many, many federations. We are so lucky to have these wonderful affiliates and we all pray that the offerings will be able to be in person again very soon. For now, they, too, are conducted via Zoom.

The leaders, Patti Boochever of WCA and Les Nizin of MCA, work with their boards and other volunteers to create the programing. There are many, many volunteers who help create and run each program. And with all of us spending more time in isolation, these programs have become a lifeline for many. The programs of the WCA and MCA, along with the Federation’s programs, have given us a rich and diverse cultural life despite the isolation. Thanks go to each and every one of you who helped with any of our programs this past year.

Other groups that hold meetings to study, play and share their Jewish Naples connections include the Maimonides Society for doctors, the Cardoza Society for lawyers, the Jewish Russian Cultural Alliance, Jewish War Veterans, Mix and Mingle for single seniors, Young Jewish Professionals and Young Jewish Families. Each group has programming to meet its needs. And each group has volunteers who create those programs with Reneé.

The Jewish Book Festival was especially difficult to bring together this year. The Jewish Book Council, of which we are a member, holds an annual conference, where authors speak for two minutes and each community then chooses the authors it wants to bring in, hoping that dates and authors line up. With hindsight, we now realize that authors in Israel, England, California and everywhere can arrive without luggage or snow delays via Zoom.

So, this year, because of the tireless efforts of co-chairs Robin Mintz and Susan Pittelman, we had one of the best Book Festivals in the five years of the program. We have no idea exactly how many people watched, as I personally know of watch parties and singles who Zoomed in, but it was a roaring success.

Each author talk was unique. Some showed presentations, some talked in conversation with a moderator, and all were up close and personal, thanks to Zoom. There were intimate discussions after a few of the events with patrons and the author that, most likely, would not have happened if we had been meeting in person. This was the ultimate definition of making lemonade from lemons.

Sadly, our yearly Chanukah celebration at Mercato did not happen this year; however, we did have a virtual Chanukah celebration.

The Israel Advocacy Committee, chaired by Harvey Cohen, presented many events that were well attended. We did not have the Israeli Scouts in June and missed their energy.

Jewish Community Relations Committee, chaired by Joel Pittelman, was also in full gear. The Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, chaired by Leslie Wasserman and Marty Gauthier, had many small group discussions on various topics, sponsored a community-wide Kristallnacht Observance, spearheaded by Ginny Segaloff. The community-wide Yom HaShoah Commemoration Program also took place on Zoom.

The Antisemitism Task Force report, made by another subcommittee of the JCRC, pointed out the known issues that occurred in our community. Our Stand Up for Justice Committee, chaired by Beth Povlow, identified winners for this year’s SUFJ Awards. Beth Barrus & Daniel Shaw from Gulf Coast High School were the first-place winners. Multiple others were also recognized for their work.

Judi Palay and the Human Needs Committee selected two nonprofits as Human Needs Award winners for 2021. Award winners were Emerson Academy and Naples Pride. I want to thank each of those committees for, once again, finding worthy recipients.

Serving the needs of the community

Raising money in order to service the needs of the community is what we do. The Annual Campaign was again chaired by Karen Deutsch. Karen had an amazing group of volunteer solicitors who helped reach out to our donors.

Our goal for the Annual Campaign was $1,375,000. As of the writing of this article, we have raised in excess of $1,425,000. We exceeded our goal and were able to help many more people in need at this time, when the needs of so many are so great.

Midyear, we made a special allocation of $30,000 to help fight hunger needs and food insecurity in our community. It warms my heart to see how you stepped up this year and really understood the needs that we, as a community, can address when we combine our efforts. Thank you, Karen and all the solicitors.

Allocations is the term to describe where your dollars go. Our allocations go to preschools; summer camps; seniors, especially Holocaust survivors; Jews with economic difficulties; education to the surrounding communities, especially middle schoolers, about the Holocaust and its underlining message of antisemitism; education and cultural events for our community; and the many needs overseas.

We try to highlight each of these areas through articles and programs that create a pride of our Jewish community. We thank Beth Wolff and the Allocations Committee for their diligence in making the recommendations.

The Annual Campaign allows us to function in all aspects — allocations, administration and programming, which occupies more and more of our Federation life. Jewish Federations were founded for the express purpose of raising money to take care of the needs of Jewish people locally and overseas. Money raising and allocating those dollars has been the traditional model that Federations have operated under for well over 100 years in the U.S.

However, times change. Community needs are different in different locations. This community needs connections to each other. We all moved here from somewhere else. We have all made wonderful new friends through the Federation, including our programming and our wholly owned subsidiaries, WCA and MCA. We are not like any other Federation. We are a very special Federation — a place to make our philanthropic goals reality, a place to make friends, a place to grow culturally and intellectually, and a place to feel part of a community.

There has been much discussion in the media about the emotional cost of the pandemic we have all lived through. The stories of those who have thrived emotionally differ from the stories of those who have suffered the most emotionally because of one big difference — a feeling of being part of a community. There were many of you who attended programs and each program created the sense of community.

A new home for the Jewish community

We will be back to being together in person. Although the timetable for that is unknown, it will happen. When it does, the new Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center may still be under construction, or not. But it will be rising from the ground in reality. Whether you come to programs in person or choose to attend programs virtually, you will be part of our new home. Your community will have a roof over its head.

In order for us to successfully continue with the mission of the Federation to serve those in need, we must raise more than the current $8,600,000 raised thus far. The cost of the building is around $10,000,000. We need another $5,000,000 to help offset the increased maintenance and other costs that will accrue when we are in our own building.

Under 300 families have participated in the Capital Campaign. I thank those of you who have joined me in making this dream a reality. You are making our community shine and grow bright because of your gifts. There are so many more families that have the capacity to help us reach our goal.

If each family that contributes to the Annual Campaign gave us a gift, reaching our goal would happen. There are still wonderful naming opportunities available. Please contact Marcy Friedland at mfriedland@jewishnaples.org or call her at the office, 239-263-4205, to become part of this effort.

Groundbreaking will take place soon. Watch your email for the date and details. I hope each of you will feel wonderful when you walk into the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center, seeing your name on a donor plaque and knowing that, without you, this effort would not have happened.

There is no way to properly acknowledge Marc Saperstein for his diligence, perseverance, guidance and many thousands of hours he has invested in planning for the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center.

There have been many hiccups as we have moved forward, and each time, his cool and thoughtful approach has gotten us past the moment.

His team, and it’s a big team, has worked with him every step of the way. But Merlin Lickhalter, his cochair (or wing man, as Marc calls him) deserves special acknowledgment. Thank you to all of you who are on the Building Committee.

Thank you, for reading this very long, very fact-filled article. Thank you for being a valued and valuable member of our community. Thank you for all you do for our community. Thank you for caring!