Foundation for the Charlotte Jewish Community - Community Legacy Celebration and Annual Meeting

The Charlotte Jewish News, June/July 2023

The Foundation for the Charlotte Jewish Community (FCJC) held its Community Legacy Celebration and annual meeting on Sunday, April 23. The event, held at Foundation For The Carolinas, honored individuals and families for their legacy gift commitments in support of the future of Charlotte’s Jewish community and recognized legacy donors who passed away over the past year. FCJC board chair, Phil Warshauer, thanked the legacy donors, FCJC fund holders, and Jewish professionals for their commitment to building and preserving the community. He reported FCJC assets under management of $179.8 million for 2022, down from a record high of $211.3 million the previous year. Over $9.1 million in new gifts were received by FCJC-managed funds and $10.4 million in grant distributions were made to support Jewish and secular nonprofits. FCJC-managed funds have distributed over $52 million in grants over the past five years. The growth of FCJC’s philanthropic planning work has resulted in over $60 million of after-lifetime commitments to FCJC with over $40 million designated to support local Jewish organizations.

“Each of these gifts has a plan,” said Warshauer. “When we receive these gifts, FCJC will follow these plans and allocate the assets to support our clients’ favorite charities. Some of these plans include assisting their children and grandchildren to identify their favorite charities and establish their own legacy of charitable giving.”

Outgoing FCJC board chair, Stephen Philipson, reflected on the past two years and thanked the FCJC Board. “We have emerged from the pandemic and are back to business,” said Philipson. “We are once again in board rooms and committee meetings assisting our Jewish partner agencies and meeting with fundholders about their current giving and philanthropic planning. We are re-launching our ‘Create Your Jewish Legacy’ initiative. Our strategic planning committee and FCJC board have finalized our strategic plan with a focus on ‘Inspiring Philanthropy’ and ‘Building Community.’ We will do this in collaboration with our community partner organizations. I am excited for Ira’s tenure as chair.; I could not have asked for a better partner, and I look forward to FCJC’s chapter growth under his leadership.”

In accepting the role of FCJC board chair, Ira Slomka shared how he and his wife Stacey established a donor-advised fund and created their legacy gifts.

“Almost everyone in the room has a similar story,” said Slomka. “You are here tonight because you also understand the importance of FCJC’s work. I am excited about the next several years and look forward to further developing our relationships with current and new donors and our partner agencies.”

The business part of the event included the nomination and approval of new board member, Brian Kahn, and current board members Elise Kosofsky and Ira Slomka. Each will serve a threeyear term. Slomka thanked Mike

Scharf and Emily Zimmern, who have served their terms for their commitment and service to FCJC. The FCJC Executive Committee will be Ira Slomka, chair; Jon Massachi, vice chair; Holly Levinson, secretary; David Cantor, treasurer; and Stephen Philipson, immediate past chair.