Super Sunday, the annual telethon for the Jewish Community of Louisville’s Annual Campaign is March 13, and Barbara Franklin, this year’s Super Sunday chair, is excited about it.
For Franklin, Super Sunday is one of the highlights of the year in the Jewish community, and every year she looks forward to being part of the fun. This year, it’s her turn to take the lead.
“Let’s spring into action,” she said, and she welcomes others who’d like to join the Super Sunday Committee. Together, they’ll decorate the Boardroom on the second floor of Shalom Tower to feel like a beautiful spring day and plan the fun.
Be a Super Sunday volunteer, Franklin says. Choose the shift that works best for you: 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m., 11:30-2 or 1:30-4 p.m. There will be no evening shift to enable people to attend the 40th Annual Adath Jeshurun Music Festival at 7 p.m. (See story, page 5.)
“There are very few things you can do that are so important, but are also so much fun,” she said. “You get to compete for prizes, and I always love that.” There are also candy, door prizes, food and T-shirts.
Franklin also enjoys “the excitement in the room, especially when people get a large donation” or a new one.
“But the real message is about our community,” she continued, “about what we do for our community here in Louisville and elsewhere.” Through the Campaign, Louisville and other North American Jewish communities reach out to one another and provide for those in need.
When a family turns to Jewish Family & Career Services’ Meyer Food Pantry, they probably need other services as well. The Campaign ensures those services are available on a sliding scale.
We must also support services for our youth if we want a Jewish future for our community. Programs like BBYO, the Teen Connection and Hillel do a good job of getting people connected with and involved in the Jewish community. The Campaign funds these programs, too.
Whether it’s providing support to immigrants, working in collaboration with Jewish and non-Jewish organizations for tikkun olam – the repair of the world, or making sure the Jewish Community Relations Council is there to help when a student or teacher encounters a situation at school that is uncomfortable or discriminatory, the Annual Campaign makes it possible.
Super Sunday is also about supporting Israel and Jews who need our help around the world.
“Those are the reasons we’re here for Super Sunday,” Franklin said. “we frame it in an atmosphere of fun and being with friends and family. And don’t forget the food and prizes and food and T-shirts and food …,” she joked.
In addition to volunteering for Super Sunday, Franklin has been active in the Jewish community in other ways. She participated in a mission to Israel during which participants did volunteer work in the Western Galilee, Louisville’s Partnership with Israel region. “We visited schools and had projects to help the kids with,” she said. “We put together boxes of food for Chanukah for the poor. It was a wonderful experience.”
The Jewish Community of Louisville has been participating in the Jewish Agency’s Partnership program since 1997, fostering a number of collaborative projects in education, medicine, business, cultural arts and more, between Israel’s Western Galilee and a consortium of Midwestern U.S. communities.
At Congregation Adath Jeshurun, Franklin is responsible for getting the bagels and opening the shul for Wednesday morning minyan. She also chairs of the Bikur Holim Committee for Jewish Hospital and Baptist Hospital East. In the past, she taught 8th grade in the Kehila program, and continues to serve as an occasional substitute. She has also been a volunteer for National Council of Jewish Women’s Fashion Encore sale.
Professionally, Franklin is a special education resource teacher for the Jefferson County Public Schools and is currently working at Shelby Traditional Academy. She likes sharing her Jewish traditions with her students and uses Chanukah and the High Holidays as an educational opportunity.
She’s shared Jewish traditions with others in the community, too, by leading a model Seder for a church group on behalf of the JCL’s Community Relation Council.
Franklin came to Louisville as a child with her family in the 1960’s. She has a B.S. from the University of Louisville, and an M.A. in education, specializing in working with children with learning disabilities, from Bellarmine University.
Her sister, Amelia Adams, and her niece, Jennifer Mancuso, also call Louisville home.
Franklin encourages you to “Spring into Action,” and become a member of the Super Sunday Committee. Please contact Franklin or JCL Campaign Associate Tzivia Levin, 618-5308 or tlevin@jewishlouisville.org. Super Sunday volunteers are also needed. Just sign up online by clicking here.
[by Shiela Steinman Wallace]