The evening of Wednesday, June 5 started off with dinner and schmoozing and ended with an exciting announcement and cheers by hundreds.
With Year 1 of the Life & Legacy Plus initiative of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation completed for Southern New Jersey, the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. welcomed some 50 guests to celebrate the community's successful results at our Legacy Celebration Event.
Attendees of the event included donors who have either established a legacy commitment for a future endowment gift through Life & Legacy (since 2014) or who have an existing endowment fund with the JCF. These generous and foresighted individuals aim to provide lasting support for the SNJ Jewish community. Also in attendance were JCF Board members and Jewish community leaders.
Speaking at the event were JCF President Andi Levin who provided introductory remarks, followed by three members of the JCF's Life & Legacy Committee: Jocelyn Borowsky, Ellen Krivchenia, and Harriet Schulman. Committee Chairperson Jodi Levine was "there in spirit" as she unfortunately could not attend, but she and the entire committee played an integral part in the success of Year 1 of Life & Legacy Plus.
To close the event, the JCF provided incentive grant checks to nine organizations totaling over $12,000 for their efforts in securing our future. Thank you to the philanthropic donors who contributed a total of 17 new legacy gift commitments, 19 new formalized legacy gifts, and over $830,000 in current donations into endowment funds during Year 1 of Life & Legacy. The future looks brighter!
Then, after taking some group pictures (photo credits: Marc Shenker), which can be viewed on the JCF's Facebook page, attendees joined the JCRC's BookMates Appreciation Event, which celebrated its 25th anniversary of partnering volunteer readers with students in Camden and other local communities to share the joy of reading and help improve the children's reading skills.
As part of this lovely and festive program-- which included inspirational speeches from Camden Mayor Vic Carstarphen and Superintendent of Camden City School District Katrina McCombs-- JCF Executive Director David Snyder made a big announcement: donors Judy Nadell and John Langan have generously established a new endowment fund with the JCF to provide expansive financial support for BookMates, lasting for many future generations. As a founding member of BookMates (and former teacher), Judy has loved helping children, and the positive impact she makes can last for the rest of their lives. Judy spoke lovingly about BookMates, and she is thrilled to be able to help the community with this new fund.
This transformative gift will enable countless students to benefit from having time to read with dedicated volunteers. Judy and John's endowment fund serves as an exquisite example of creating a legacy. Visit the Voice to read more.
It was indeed two big legacy successes to celebrate in one memorable night!
On behalf of the entire Board of Trustees and staff of the JCF, and the entire community, we thank Judy and John for establishing an endowment fund to benefit BookMates, and we encourage all community members to consider leaving a legacy gift in any amount to follow in their footsteps.
For more information, please contact us at 856-673-2528.