25TH ANNIVERSARY AT THE FOUNDATION, SEP TE MBER, 2014
My stor y is a continuation of my parents’ stor y, so I therefore dedicate this book to them. Without my mother, Dorothy, of blessed memor y, and my father, Lou, this would be a ver y dif ferent stor y. My success in the world is a direct result of their unconditional love, deep devotion to family, communit y and the Jewish people, and their unwavering commitment to life’s most noble values. September, 2014 Los Angeles, CA
“I did no t fin d t h e wo r l d d es o l a t e w hen I en t ere d it. As my f at he r pl an t e d fo r me, s o d o I pl a n t for my c hil d ren.” - Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit
BELONGINGS “I felt like there was a barrier. I felt like I was an outsider. I really wanted to belong. But I always knew that I was different from my friends, especially my non-Jewish friends. Initially, I couldn’t speak English, only Yiddish, and I came from a family that suffered one of the greatest tragedies in Jewish history; fortunately my friends’ families did not.”
OUR HOUSE “I knew everything was OK when I heard my parents lovingly whistling to each other.”
THE CUBE “My father has internal emotional strength. He was always aware of the negative but he knew how to ‘turn the cube’ and find a way to respond positively.”
BALANCE “Come to think of it, I worked hard all my life, but I always found time for fun.”
YOU’RE THE FIRST, THE LAST, MY EVERYTHING “From the first time I met her, Sandy and I were virtually inseparable. In fact, before Sandy joined me at the University of Cincinnati, I used to hitchhike 300 miles every other week back to Youngstown to be together.”
THE GREATEST DISCOVERY “The birth of our children, Daniel and Aviva, was the catalyst for Sandy and me to examine the values that we wanted to pass on to them. That led to a lifelong journey of embracing our Jewish heritage.”
HELLO, I MUST BE GOING. HOME AT LAST “I left Youngstown in 1965 to attend college and law school at the University of Cincinnati, after which I became an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio in Columbus. I moved to Tucson in 1975 to open a law practice with Jim Stuehringer. In 1982, I left law and began working for the Jewish Community Foundation of Tucson. I then moved to New Jersey in 1985 to head a larger endowment program there. Several years later, Marty Appel recruited me for the position of the Executive Vice President of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, which has been my home ever since.�
A T YPICAL FOUNDATION BOARD MEE TING
OUR WAY “We planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway and much, much more than that we did it our way.” - Frank Sinatra, mostly “The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don’t have to ask anyone or play politics. You don’t have to wait for the reviews.” - Sandy Koufax
A T YPICAL FOUNDATION SENIOR M ANAGE MENT MEE TING
TEAMWORK “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” - Vince Lombardi
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Growth
Budgetary Plans
Strategic Plans
IF YOU WILL IT, IT IS NO DREAM “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” - John Wooden
LON LE V IN ON THE LEF T & ELIE J. GINDI ON THE RIGHT
My heartfelt thanks to two highly talented men of great accomplishment, philanthropist and conceptual artist, Elie Gindi, and accomplished illustrator Lon Levin, who together have produced over 2000 works of art, including illustrations. Founders of StorygramsTM, they create beautiful visual biographies and autobiographies taken from interviews with real people. They conceived of this book, designed it and produced it as a labor of love in honor of my 25th anniversary at The Foundation. The idea emanated from a recent Foundation grant made to the Zekenim initiative of the USC Davis School of Gerontology which uses art in an educational and therapeutic fashion enabling older adults to share their life stories. I am deeply touched by their generosity, their treasured friendship and their unwavering commitment to the highest Jewish ideals.
My deepest appreciation and heartfelt gratitude to my family; the leadership, staff and donors of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles; all of The Foundation’s friends and supporters near and far; and to all the members of our community who dedicate their lives to perfecting the world every day.
“Marvin Schotland: 25th Anniversary at The Foundation” is produced by
STORYGRAMS Storygrams TM, an Eticket Media LLC Company www.storygrams.com | 310.850.7102 | ejg.storygrams@gmail.com