Federation’s fall phone-athon hopes to raise $118K on Super Sunday
The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix hopes to score big Oct. 11, during its Super Sunday Fall Phone-A-Thon with a goal to raise $118,000.
“Team spirit is contagious; we did great with the spring phone-a-thon and now we have even more people participating and activities planned for Super Sunday,” says Susan Farber, who is co-chair with Gail Ober. Susan and Gail also co-chaired the spring phone-a-thon, which raised more than $86,000 for the federation’s annual campaign, including $11,000 in new and increased gifts.
Along with their goal, the committee hopes to have more than 118 volunteers. One volunteer will be Blaine Light, 25, one of five men who volunteered from Moishe House during the spring phone-a-thon. “I loved being part of the phone-a-thon,” he says.
Super Sunday is part of the federation’s annual campaign, which raises funds to help Jews in need and to build vibrant Jewish communities in Greater Phoenix, Israel and 70 countries. The campaign is co-chaired by Don and Esther Schon.
The phone-a-thon is at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center from 9 am to 1 pm. To volunteer, go to jewishphoenix.org/supersunday or call Amanda Garcia at 480-634- 4900 ext. 1202.
To contribute, go to jewishphoenix.webconnex.com/ annualcampaign2015.
Get ready to Schmooze in the Valley
If you’re looking to mix and mingle, Schmooze will bring together Jewish people in their 30s and 40s at local events in the Valley for Jewish social interaction.
“We will bring three different kinds of events,” says Cory Shapiro, co-founder and leadership team member of Schmooze. “We will have events bringing singles together, events for couples and events for young families. Our focus is 30s and 40s, but we recognize some young families extend from 20 to 40,” he says, adding they hope to collaborate with Moishe House for those in their 20s and 30s.
Although there are other organizations offering a variety of events, “our goal is to complement what is already happening in Phoenix – not to compete with other organizations throughout the Phoenix community,” Cory says.
Still in the planning stages, the first event, The Big Schmooze, will be held Oct. 24 at 7:30 pm for singles and couples. It will be followed by a Family Kick-Off event in November, which is still in the planning stages. Locations for both events will be available via the group’s website, azschmooze.com and Facebook page at facebook. com/azschmooze.
ASU’s Center for Jewish Studies offers course on ancestry
Arizona State University’s Center for Jewish Studies will offer “From Eastern Europe to the United States: Our Wandering Jewish Ancestors,” a six-week course taught by genealogist Emily Garber.
Emily describes the course as a Jewish family history back-story. “This course provides the context to understand our ancestors lives in the Old World: how they survived, why they may have emigrated and their experiences during immigration to the United States,” she says.
Emily holds an M.A. in anthropology (archaeology) from the University of New Mexico and a B.A. in anthropology from Vassar College. In 2007 she began researching her family history and has traced relatives to Ukraine, Belarus and Romania. Her ancestors immigrated to the United States between 1881 and 1922. During June 2013, Emily completed her first family roots trip to Ukraine. She has been on the Advisory Board for the Phoenix Jewish Genealogical Society for several years, teaching courses and workshops.
The courses fee is $180, which includes materials, and will be held at Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus every Wednesday from 1-3 pm Oct. 14 through Nov. 18.
To register, go to jewishstudies.clas.asu.edu/adult-ed.
