Campaign season includes innovative and high quality programs

Campaign season includes innovative and high quality programs

by Stew Bromberg, Vice President and CDO, Jewish Federation of Louisville

One of the first things I learned when I began working in the Jewish community 20 plus years ago was that the Jewish High Holidays are either early or late, but never on time. The last time the holiday arrived this early was in 1899. This timing will not be seen again until the late 2000’s.

If you have been reading my articles these past few months you may realize that my introductory paragraph usually leads to a question such as “So what does this have to do with the here and now?” Let me explain. Over the summer I spoke about the preparation for the 2014 Jewish Federation of Louisville Annual Campaign and the many exciting events and programs we were busy planning and developing. Once the holidays pass, time flies by quickly.

Our Campaign Chair, Doug Gordon, had a wonderful idea. As we are noticing a positive swing in the impact we are having on the community and the services we and our constituent agencies provide to the community, let’s celebrate our strong past as we strive to build a stronger future. On Sunday, October 6, we will be holding a nostalgic program; Happy Days are Here Again, to pay tribute to the people, places and actions from our past that provided a foundation from which we will build the future.

Our official campaign kick-off event will be on Thursday, October 17, and will feature Rae Ringel as our keynote speaker. As President of The Ringel Group, Rae is nationally renowned for her outstanding repertoire of skills and interpersonal acumen. She will we lead us through a program designed to help us all become more effective communicators and to walk away from the program with concrete knowledge of how to inspire others to take action.

On Sunday, November 3, we will hold our Major Gifts Champagne Brunch in the Atrium of the Starks building. Our special guest will be Dottie Bennett who is a major supporter and advocate for the Jewish community in local, national and worldwide arenas. She has been a presidential appointee to the National Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, served on the board of directors of the Jewish Outreach Institute and has worked closely with Project Interchange.

She considers herself a community activist and has personally enabled many organizations and individuals to become more successful, vibrant and sustainable though her support and encouragement. Dottie’s contribution of time, energy and financial support on local, national and global levels set an incredible example of how we should live our lives, guided by Jewish and American values, respect others and their right to be who they are, and to set high standards and goals for ourselves and others around us. I am honored to consider Dottie a personal and professional friend and colleague and encourage our donors to attend this event. Dottie makes a major difference in this world, and so do we.

This year we will continue our Uniquely Jewish Event series and look forward to our first spectacular event; The History of Jewish Bourbon in Louisville. We are honored to be holding this wonderful event on Tuesday, January 7, in the soon-to-be opened Evan Williams Visitor Center on Main Street. This solicitation event will be hosted by the Latts/Shapira family and promises to be one of THE events of the season and should not be missed. Look for more details coming very soon.

We will continue to seek grants from foundations, individuals, corporations and others as we strive to provide the best programs and services to our community. Last year we received over $547,000 in grants for programs, services and much needed infrastructure improvements. We thank the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, Metro United Way, the C. E. & S. Foundation, the Kentucky Arts Council, the Kentucky Colonels and many others for understanding the importance of our work and providing the support and guidance we have requested.

In closing, I would like to thank you all. You are the reason we do what we do. Your continued support helps us ensure the continuation of programs and service in the community. Thank you also for responding to our summer interns when they called to update your information as we move to a new data management system to better serve your needs and assure that you receive the information you want regarding programs that will be of interest to you. If we have not yet reached you, please look forward to speaking with our wonderful staff as we gather accurate information for the future.

The campaign starts now. In these challenging times, the need for services made possible by the Campaign continues to rise, and the level of support we can provide depends on the success of the Campaign. Help us help our community continue to grow strong.

Together we do extraordinary things.

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