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We're very proud of the fact that as Jewish people part of our upbringing is to repair the
world. The words are "tokun olum". It simply means "to repair the world". So making the
world better is being involved in things like this. You can do it in other ways. If you can't
afford to, then you give time. Last week we went on a site visit....somebody who's just
looking. They haven't made application. They were trying to figure out if it's a fit, if it
really works for us. It was so exciting to see this group of people so energized. So wanting
to make a difference themselves that the group of people who went asked the most wonderful
questions, everyone was truly engaged. We are going to try to find a way to see what part of
what they need can be fulfilled through a grant from us. Back in 1997, Sinai Hospital, the Jewish
Hospital located in Detroit, a decision was made because health care was under a lot of
financial problems, a decision was made to sell the hospital. Because there was a lot of
Jewish community $$ involved in creating and sustaining that hospital, the Jewish community
was involved in what to do with the proceeds of the sale. A decision was made to create a
foundation with those proceeds. That ended up after certain kinds of payouts to be around
$67 million that were then invested and created the Jewish Fund as a support foundation to
the Jewish Federation, which means it is an independent foundation but shares much of
the mission of the Jewish Federation. The best soup has good ingredients. Our board is
involved, they show up, participate. People get energized by going into a place
where they knew nothing about it. And they see a group of people who care deeply about
something who are already doing as much as they can and just need help to do more. That's the
win for us. That's the payback. We have a board of approximately 30 people and function
independently to support the health and welfare needs both in the Jewish community and general
community. We have a wider range of board members today than when I began and I've been with this
organization since it began. If you take the time to get somebody involved, they will
thank you later. The board is made up of those who have already exhibited leadership in
the Jewish Community and/or the general community. Many have been on boards throughout the
community, served as board chairs. Many have professional leadership experiences. So the
composition of our Board I would call excellent. Their commitment to really fully understanding
our applicants and our grants once they are awarded. They are involved in site visits and
reviewing all of the progress and reporting from our grantees.
We do a very good evaluation. No grant is renewed for its second year without
being evaluated by materials, reports and a visit. We've made tremendous grants. Many of them
are small organizations who are just starting out and who really need a significant start up
grant to be able to accomplish their goals. If you talk about dollars it probably is the money
we've been able to use for the most vulnerable populations in the Jewish community. We started
a project called "Project Hessed". If you want to see something that is just so
remarkable because people with dignity can access health services and we have a whole
community of people who are helping. They go the Jewish Family Service. Through Project
Hessed they can get health services. They are directed to other organizations that can
give them opportunities for loans, work efforts. We have some builders now who help
people with home repair so that they can stay in their homes. So the docs, lawyers, dentists and
pharmacists that have joined the project hessed crowd of about 600...it started with nobody and
now there's 600 in our community that are committing some time to see 2-3 patients a week. The
Jewish Fund invests in great ideas, too, that benefit the community. Summer in the
city...when it started I thought...this is a bunch of kids. They're not going to be
able to make this happen yet it's grown by leaps and bounds. And they're so terrific. It's
that kind of thing where you say, "they needed that money right then. And without our
little bit of money, they probably would have folded. And we made it possible and now they
are successful. They might not be making money, but they're making ends meet. And they're
serving all kinds of children across the community. I think if you were to ask Margo or Penny
who they were closest to outside of their daily work they would say it's people who care, people
who give back. Good stewardship has been the key to the success and impact of the Jewish Fund.
The fund has been carefully managed and despite the millions of dollars in grant money
invested in the good work of non profit organizations, the fund balance remains essentially the
same as when the fund launched in 1997. This is even more incredible when you realize that
the Jewish Fund has not cut back on projects they fund even when the economy took a nosedive. We
have terrific leadership. We have terrific future...younger people on the Jewish Fund. I
think the Jewish Fund will be in great hands for the future. I am most proud of the fact that we
have the balance that we have. That it's invested wisely and that we have wise people to
consider . It's not to say my time is up but to say, "wow, we kept it going and hopefully it
is as good or better than it was before and now someone else's turn to take the baton in the