As my term as President at JFS comes to an end, I want to take this opportunity to share my list of accomplishments with you and thank the community for your support.
I assumed the presidency of JFS at a time of great economic instability and I am proud to report that we have managed to stabilize the agency’s finances by decreasing expenses and increasing income.
While I’m on the topic of fundraising, our dinner dances over these two years honoring Lesley and David Brooks, Elinor and Leonard Goldman, Chet Fienberg, Mike and Isa Beck, Gordon Haas, Ruth Margolin and Mayor Chris Bollwage, were highly successful and we are busy planning a major centennial celebration.
Our Fall Family Concert featured the “Maccabeats” and brought over 800 people together for a fun and inspiring afternoon of Jewish music and afforded us the opportunity to reach out to a new population who might not be familiar with our work.
We sponsored two Art Shows to support the Food Programs at JFS, one at the L&M Art Gallery in Elizabeth and the most recent one at the Evalyn Dunn Gallery in Westfield. We are truly grateful to the hard work of all committee members and to Julie Sirotkin and Michael Sirotkin, owners of L&M, and to Jacie Civins, owner of the Evalyn Dunn Gallery for graciously hosting the events for us.
We continue to apply for private as well as government grants we have had in place for some time and continue to seek out new sources of funding. We also hold many direct mail campaigns for membership, food and assistance for children and the elderly throughout the year.
Our newly created website www.JFSCentralNJ.org is up and running, and proudly displays all of our services and allows you to contribute to the Agency’s many fundraising campaigns with greater ease. Many thanks to our past interns, Debra Klee Wenger and Rikki Naiman for their help, and most recently Talia Nudell for designing and editing our new E-Newsletter.
In response to people who are able to pay for home health aide services, we have launched Caregivers at Home as a private pay service. The Older Adult Services Department continues to innovate new ways to assist the frail elderly. The Grotta Fund for Senior Care and the Merck Corporation, Inc., recently funded The Care Transitions Collaboration Program to help reduce hospital readmission rates for seniors with congestive heart failure and/or chornic obstructive pulmonary disease.
We have strengthened our network of services as the statewide provider for services for Holocaust Survivors with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Our own Café Europa program increased from 10 to 12 meetings a year and utilizes resources from community partners such as the Jewish Educational Center, Congregation Beth Israel, and the YMHA of Union County.
While we certainly appreciate all of our community partners, I would like to thank our Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey for all of their help. They quickly came to our aid with extra financing for our Kosher Meals on Wheels Program when some of the government funding was recently cut. They run two generous campaigns a year to bring food to our doors during their Annual Supermarket Sweep Foodraiser, and, as one of the activities for Super Sunday they purchase and have volunteers pack food items to give to those in need. We are fortunate to count on the YMHA of Union County to provide our seniors with nutritious Kosher Meals on Wheels, five days a week.
Our Federation answered our call three years ago to get the Economic Response Team off the ground with Sheri Brown and Carol Einhorn assisting unemployed people all over the county with everything from networking workshops, to career advice and resume assistance. Many thanks to the JCC of Central NJ for being available to host our numerous programs throughout the year.
The Federation has also helped us with a $50,000 grant to fund Project KESHER to strengthen our outreach effort to the community. Partnering with Sharsheret and Trinitas Regional Medical Center we have formed a Breast Cancer awareness group which meets monthly. Volunteer Mitzvah projects, an Urban Community Garden, and lectures have already taken place and others are currently being planned.
To better accommodate the community’s needs, our Counseling Department now has more evening and weekend hours for individuals, couples, and family counseling. We continue to provide Play Therapy for children with three furnished offices at our main office in Elizabeth and branch office in Clark and Adoption Home Studies
I want to take this opportunity to thank the JFS staff, my fellow board members, and volunteers for sharing my passion for meeting the needs of the community. I urge everyone to get involved in any way possible. We have so many program that I hope you can find one that suits your interests.
I assumed the presidency of JFS at a time of great economic instability and I am proud to report that we have managed to stabilize the agency’s finances by decreasing expenses and increasing income.
While I’m on the topic of fundraising, our dinner dances over these two years honoring Lesley and David Brooks, Elinor and Leonard Goldman, Chet Fienberg, Mike and Isa Beck, Gordon Haas, Ruth Margolin and Mayor Chris Bollwage, were highly successful and we are busy planning a major centennial celebration.
Our Fall Family Concert featured the “Maccabeats” and brought over 800 people together for a fun and inspiring afternoon of Jewish music and afforded us the opportunity to reach out to a new population who might not be familiar with our work.
We sponsored two Art Shows to support the Food Programs at JFS, one at the L&M Art Gallery in Elizabeth and the most recent one at the Evalyn Dunn Gallery in Westfield. We are truly grateful to the hard work of all committee members and to Julie Sirotkin and Michael Sirotkin, owners of L&M, and to Jacie Civins, owner of the Evalyn Dunn Gallery for graciously hosting the events for us.
We continue to apply for private as well as government grants we have had in place for some time and continue to seek out new sources of funding. We also hold many direct mail campaigns for membership, food and assistance for children and the elderly throughout the year.
Our newly created website www.JFSCentralNJ.org is up and running, and proudly displays all of our services and allows you to contribute to the Agency’s many fundraising campaigns with greater ease. Many thanks to our past interns, Debra Klee Wenger and Rikki Naiman for their help, and most recently Talia Nudell for designing and editing our new E-Newsletter.
In response to people who are able to pay for home health aide services, we have launched Caregivers at Home as a private pay service. The Older Adult Services Department continues to innovate new ways to assist the frail elderly. The Grotta Fund for Senior Care and the Merck Corporation, Inc., recently funded The Care Transitions Collaboration Program to help reduce hospital readmission rates for seniors with congestive heart failure and/or chornic obstructive pulmonary disease.
We have strengthened our network of services as the statewide provider for services for Holocaust Survivors with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Our own Café Europa program increased from 10 to 12 meetings a year and utilizes resources from community partners such as the Jewish Educational Center, Congregation Beth Israel, and the YMHA of Union County.
While we certainly appreciate all of our community partners, I would like to thank our Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey for all of their help. They quickly came to our aid with extra financing for our Kosher Meals on Wheels Program when some of the government funding was recently cut. They run two generous campaigns a year to bring food to our doors during their Annual Supermarket Sweep Foodraiser, and, as one of the activities for Super Sunday they purchase and have volunteers pack food items to give to those in need. We are fortunate to count on the YMHA of Union County to provide our seniors with nutritious Kosher Meals on Wheels, five days a week.
Our Federation answered our call three years ago to get the Economic Response Team off the ground with Sheri Brown and Carol Einhorn assisting unemployed people all over the county with everything from networking workshops, to career advice and resume assistance. Many thanks to the JCC of Central NJ for being available to host our numerous programs throughout the year.
The Federation has also helped us with a $50,000 grant to fund Project KESHER to strengthen our outreach effort to the community. Partnering with Sharsheret and Trinitas Regional Medical Center we have formed a Breast Cancer awareness group which meets monthly. Volunteer Mitzvah projects, an Urban Community Garden, and lectures have already taken place and others are currently being planned.
To better accommodate the community’s needs, our Counseling Department now has more evening and weekend hours for individuals, couples, and family counseling. We continue to provide Play Therapy for children with three furnished offices at our main office in Elizabeth and branch office in Clark and Adoption Home Studies
I want to take this opportunity to thank the JFS staff, my fellow board members, and volunteers for sharing my passion for meeting the needs of the community. I urge everyone to get involved in any way possible. We have so many program that I hope you can find one that suits your interests.
Jennifer Pollak (left) addressing volunteers at the recent Supermarket Sweep
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