SPRING/SUMMER 2015
FROM THE DESK OF 
THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

 

Dear members, friends, and supporters:

 

Spring has finally arrived.  Despite the harsh winter weather, it has been a remarkable year for NCJW NY.  Our Council House has been bustling with activity, serving the community through our Food Pantry, our Community Kitchen, and our Council Lifetime Learning program for active older adults.  Last fall, we added a second after-school program site for our Reading Tutors program, providing one-on-one literacy support to elementary school children on the Lower East Side.  In January, we hosted a blockbuster education and advocacy night on the important issue of sex trafficking, a scourge that is happening right here in New York City.  Looking ahead, on August 2nd we will host our first annual Back 2 School Store, where we will outfit more than 100 children from economically disadvantaged families with everything they need to start the new school year with pride, enthusiasm, and confidence. 

 

As always, we need your ideas and your participation.  Please join us!

 

With warm wishes for a wonderful summer,

 


 

Andrea Salwen Kopel

Executive Director

 

OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL GALA YET

On April 29th, almost 300 people gathered at the Metropolitan Club to honor our Woman Who Dared Award honorees Florence Fabricant, Ellen V. Futter, Elaine Mandelbaum and Melanie Meyers and our Council Lifetime Learning Inspiration Award honoree David Goldberg. Through the generosity of our supporters, the gala raised over $475,000 in support of NCJW NY's vital community services and programs. What an amazing night!

 

The evening featured an engaging program including a video presentation, our honorees' inspirational stories,  and a silent auction. Guests were galvanized by NCJC NY Board member Michael Gottlieb's passionate words on behalf of our Hunger Program. Huge thanks go to our honorees, the NCJW NY Board and the gala planning members, and especially to our President Karol Todrys for her leadership and dedication in ensuring that this was the most successful Spring Gala to date.

 

 

HUNGER PROGRAM RECEIVES STRONG COMMUNITY SUPPORT

We did it! In response to our appeal in March, over 150 generous donors collectively contributed almost $30,000, allowing our Food Pantry and Community Kitchen to remain open throughout the spring, summer, and beyond. The hungry New Yorkers who depend on our services include some of our city's most vulnerable men, women, and children and the funding of our Hunger Program is more challenging than ever. As the need to feed our clients keeps growing, NCJW NY Board member Michael Gottlieb made a passionate appeal at our Spring Gala. Michael volunteers each and every Sunday, prepping and serving at our Community Kitchen, so his words were particularly compelling and resonant.  His appeal yielded an additional $47,630 in support of our Food Pantry and Community Kitchen. Because of everyone's collective generosity, NCJW NY is now positioned to serve 47,000 people during the coming year.

 

We simply can't thank everyone enough. When we really needed your help, you were there for us and for the New Yorkers we serve.    

 
WE WERE SLAVES COALITION HOSTS FILM SCREENING

On April 15th, over 70 people attended a special screening of Very Young Girls, featuring a conversation with Rachel Lloyd, the founder and CEO of GEMS (Girls Education and Mentoring Services),  the only organization in New York State specifically designed to serve girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Very Young Girls is an expos? of sex trafficking that follows 13- and 14-year-old American girls as they are seduced, abused, and sold by pimps on the streets of New York City and then treated as criminals by the police. The film provides a rare glimpse into how the cycle of street life begins for many young girls and women. It follows these girls in real time using intimate interviews and startling footage, some of it shot by the brazen pimps themselves.   

 

"Sex trafficking is a scourge on our society, and so many of us do not realize that it is happening right here in New York City, to women and children born and bred here.  NCJW NY is committed to educating our community about the problem and taking action to address it," said Pam Kling Takiff, the Chair of NCJW NY's Advocacy Leadership Committee. 

 

If you would like to get involved in our advocacy and education work, please contact Yael Reisman, Director of Outreach and Engagement, at yreisman@ncjwny.org or at 646.884.9462.  

 

 

NCJW NY'S SUPPORT GROUPS:
A VITAL COMMUNITY SERVICE
 

Among its many community services, Council House offers a number of support groups including  bereavement groups, a support group for caregivers of people living with Alzheimer's and other memory impairment conditions, and our Pregnancy Loss Support Program.

 

Our two bereavement groups meet weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. According to NCJW NY's social worker Letitia Maun, who leads these support groups, "Grief is a normal and universal response to loss, yet often people experiencing loss feel isolated and misunderstood.  These groups provide a supportive, compassionate place for group members to share their feelings and the challenges they are confronting." 

 

Our support group for caregivers of a partner/spouse with Alzheimer's and other memory impairment conditions meets weekly on Fridays.  Group members share invaluable insight and understanding with each other and develop strong bonds, which help to strengthen their coping and resilience skills.

 

Our Pregnancy Loss Support Program (PLSP) offers counseling to parents who have suffered miscarriage, stillbirth, and newborn death. Telephone counseling is offered nationwide, and support groups are held at Council House.  In PLSP's unique and innovative program model, counselors and group leaders are all professionally-trained volunteers who have suffered similar losses themselves, making them particularly sensitive to the needs and feelings of participants.  In addition, volunteers are able to continue their own healing process by helping others.      

 

"The comfort and compassion our support group participants receive enables them to acknowledge and express their grief so that they can begin to heal and look to the future with hope," said Susie Drazen, NCJW NY's Director of Community Services. "We view this work as an integral part of our mission of tikkun olam, healing the world."

 

 

For more information on NCJW NY's support groups, please contact Letitia Maun at 212.687.5030, x471 or lmaun@ncjwny.org.  

 

 

Vol.1/No. 2
In This Issue


DONOR SPOTLIGHT
BETTE BAUM



 

Longtime NCJW NY member and volunteer Bette Baum contributed $25,000 to name and dedicate Council House's Finance and Operations Office in honor of her late husband, Phil. Bette served in a number of leadership roles over the years including the Co-Directorship of our Food Pantry during the 1990s and, in later years, as Board member and treasurer.

 

A constant presence here at NCJW NY, Bette started volunteering in our Food Pantry and still supports our Hunger Program generously each year.

 

Phil Baum, who died last year at the age of 94, was one of the giants of Jewish public affairs, having spent his entire career at the American Jewish Congress. Phil authored the first published memo making the legal case for a Jewish State and was closely involved in the crafting of dozens of briefs to the US Supreme Court on civil liberties and civil rights.

 

When asked why she decided to make the dedication gift, Bette remarked, "Because I believe in everything the NCJW NY stands for, and I wanted to make sure that they can continue to do the work they do."