Thunder Over Louisville this year signaled the beginning of the Kentucky Derby Festival, gave us a taste of summer weather and led us into the Passover holiday. This is a time of rebirth and refreshing as spring plants and trees come back to life after a long winter of hibernation.
This is also the time when we work diligently to bring in all of the 2014 Federation Campaign pledges so we can plan the allocations for our community partners and ensure the continuation of the many services and programs so necessary to our wellbeing.
Last year we were fortunate enough to be able to fulfill all the requests we received to assist families to send their children to overnight Jewish camps and a record number of Louisville Jewish teens we able to attend summer programs in Israel. The generosity of some of our families in the community along with a grant received for the second year (at a greater level) has once again enabled us to provide the funds necessary to enable our children to have a wonderful experience and build lifetime memories through participation in these programs again this summer.
But there is so much more that we need to continue. We have a vibrant Jewish senior adult community that has access to a nutritional kosher lunch program, available Monday-Friday at the JCC and delivered to those homebound who are unable to travel easily to join their peers.
Our teen program is the envy of many other Jewish communities as our numbers grow and our teens become leaders on a national level. In fact they just brought home several regional awards. (See Teen Topics, page 17.)
Our Campaign supports community outreach programs, along with grants and support from some of our funders, that help newcomers to Louisville and new parents. We are also working to revive our Young Leadership Development program and to develop some new Young Adult programming in the community.
I mentioned that we help our community partners through Campaign allocations. These allocations go to support the food pantry and family services provided through Jewish Family & Career Services and supplemental and community Hebrew School programs to enrich the knowledge and passion our children feel for their Jewish Heritage, as well as building a strong Hillel program at our local colleges to help our students maintain their connection to Judaism, grow their cultural passion and ensure they have a place to turn when others present inaccurate information regarding the events in the world around us.
We also support the Jewish Community Relations Council as it works to address inappropriate behavior and motivations in our community and it is often the face of the community when issues arise.
We provide, through some of the funds raised during the Campaign, funding for many other Jewish mission-driven programming, such as Yom HaShoah Holocaust commemorative programming and Yom Haatzmaut celebrations for Israel Independence Day.
Our Early Learning Center children experience Shabbat in the Lobby every Friday morning. There are many other activities and events your contribution to the Campaign supports, and we encourage you to let us hear about your passions. Let us know what you enjoy participating in within our community and also let us know if you feel something is missing.
The best way to raise our voices and secure the future of the Louisville Jewish community and have an impact on the global Jewish community is by supporting our 2014 Federation Campaign.
Help us close out this year’s Campaign on a high note. If you have already made your contribution this year, thank you. If you have not yet made your pledge we thank you for your consideration and want you to know how much the entire community will appreciate your generosity. Please go to www.jewishlouisville.org/donate or call 238-2739. It will be our pleasure to assist you.
Together we do extraordinary things. Thank you for your continued support.