Holidays great time to reflect on accomplishments and look toward future improvement
This month we celebrate the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, two very important Jewish holidays. It is a time for us to be introspective as individuals – reaching out for forgiveness and refocusing how we want to live our lives differently. At the federation, we are also taking time to reflect on all that we have accomplished to determine how we can improve our role in building vibrant Jewish communities and taking care of those in need.
In the spirit of the holidays, I am taking this opportunity on behalf of the federation to apologize to anyone who may have felt negatively impacted by our organization. The leadership team, board and I are focused on achieving our mission through positive and enriching stewardship within our community. This is always the guiding force behind our decisions and actions. I also thank all who have supported our mission of enriching lives in the communities we serve.
This year, your support allowed us to significantly advance our cores areas of impact:
• We hired a senior director of NOWGen programs to significantly expand the engagement of our community’s young Jewish men and women.
• We funded the senior concierge position to help connect our community’s seniors to vital services that will maintain their independence and quality of life.
• We worked with ASU Hillel, JAC and BBYO to engage our community’s youth as advocates for Israel and look forward to the impact these students will make in the coming year.
• We funded seven School Partners and seven Strategic Partners, as well as provided nearly a half-million dollars in support of our overseas partners, JDC and JAFI, work that Chief Development Officer Marty Haberer and Campaign Chairs Don and Esther Schon were able to see firsthand during the JFNA Directors & Chairmen Mission this summer.
I invite you, in the spirit of the New Year and a new beginning, to give generously and to help us reach our annual campaign goal of a half-million-dollar increase over last year, which will expand our impact in all of the communities we serve.
Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim – may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.
Stuart Wachs is president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.
