CJYF Allocates close to @12,000 to local agencies
 Over 80 people were in attendance as the Columbus Jewish Youth Foundation gave away almost $12,000 during its first Annual Meeting on May 21st. The Columbus Jewish Federation, Hillel at The Ohio State University, Jewish Family Services and Wexner Heritage Village were all beneficiaries of first-year grants from the CJYF.
The meeting—held at the JCC of Greater Columbus—also featured a keynote address by Survivor: Africa, Winner; soccer celebrity and philanthropist Ethan Zohn. In his opening remarks, Foundation Director of Marketing and Youth Philanthropy Coordinator Larry Shuman welcomed all in attendance and commented on the dedication and hard work the members of the Youth Foundation exhibited over the last year. ”We are here tonight to celebrate the culmination of a year’s worth of discussion, debate, information gathering, and community building designed to bring into focus the wonderful operations that make up the Columbus Jewish community.”
The meeting was handed over to the teens who provided an overview of the agencies they visited and the programs that CJYF would fund. After carefully reviewing the different agencies that make up to core of the Columbus Jewish community, the CJYF chose to visit the Columbus Jewish Federation, Hillel at The Ohio State University, Jewish Family Services and Wexner Heritage Village. CJYF members presented a request for proposal to each of the agencies visited and gathered to discuss and debate the merits of each request. After careful consideration, the following proposals were voted on and approved for funding.
APPROVED GRANT The Columbus Jewish Federation “Camp Scholarship Program”: $3,000.00 CJYF board member Ben Sinvany spoke on behalf of the Federation site-visit delegation—which also included Katherine Emoff and Molly Igdaloff—about the Federation’s role in the community and the grant proposal the board eventually approved: “In an effort to promote Jewish camping experiences to those families with financial needs, the Columbus Jewish Youth Foundation is pleased to allocated $3,000 to the Columbus Jewish Federation’s Camp Scholarship Program.
APPROVED GRANT Hillel at The Ohio State University—“Jr. & Sr. Prom at Wexner Heritage Village”: $2,484.00 CJYF board member Andrew Igdaloff spoke on behalf of the delegation that visited Hillel at OSU. This delegation also included Mary Fredman, Jason Levine and Samantha Levy. The CJYF approved a grant of $2,484 for the implementation of the Jr. & Sr. Prom event at Wexner Heritage Village. “The Jr. & Sr. Prom provides OSU students with the opportunity to personally give back to the Columbus community by throwing a ‘prom style’ dance party for residents of the Wexner Heritage Village. Students will help brighten the days of the Wexner residents while being visible in the broader Jewish community as leaders and engaging in Tikkun Olam.”
APPROVED GRANT Jewish Family Services—“Healthy Dating Workshops”: $2,875.00 CJYF board members Josh Hoffman and Philip Schuss presented the grant request submitted by Jewish Family Services. Along with Helen Isaac, the teens explained the JFS grant, which requested: “$2,875 to enhance JFS’s “Healthy Dating Workshops,” a component of the JFS Domestic Violence Program. The funds will provide professional and culturally sensitive training materials for workshops attended by junior high and high school students, parents, teachers and rabbis primarily within the Columbus Jewish community. These “early intervention” workshops materials are designed to educate participants about the warning signs of an abusive relationship.”
APPROVED GRANT Wexner Heritage Village—“Creative Arts Center at Heritage Tower”: $3,000.00 Speaking on behalf of CJYF board members Jaclyn Hirsch, Ari Jacobs and Kyle Marx, Alex Good discussed the importance of senior care facilities in the community and presented the request from Wexner Heritage Village to help fund the creation of: “a new creative arts center at Heritage Tower. Heritage Tower is a HUD-subsidized, independent apartment building for low-income seniors. Recently, Wexner Heritage Village built a space to be used for creative arts activities, and would like to enhance the experience by providing classes and materials for use by the tenants there. While social and intellectual activities are not required for an independent site such as Heritage Tower, WHV believes that seniors thrive in a vibrant and active environment. Creative arts allow opportunities for social interaction, intellectual stimulation, and physical coordination - all of which enhance quality of life and promote dignity and continued learning.”
In total, the Columbus Jewish Youth Foundation made quite a splash in its first year of operation, allocating $11,359.00 to four local agencies. After the check presentations, CJYF member Jason Levine returned to the podium to introduce the evening’s keynote speaker, Ethan Zohn.
Zohn spoke about his experiences on television’s Survivor: Africa and how the lessons he learned growing up Jewish in Lexington, Massachusetts helped him embrace the “community” component of the show. He provided a video “glimpse” into some of the show’s highlights and also spoke about the challenges of being the “’Jewboy’ who couldn’t eat ham.” “I took some flack for not responding to those inflammatory remarks,” Zohn recalled. “I instead took the opportunity to teach my fellow castaways about the Jewish notion of kashrut and why it is important in our tradition.”
While his turn on Survivor is what catapulted Zohn to celebrity status, he used his “15 minutes” (and his $1 million prize to help found Grassroot Soccer, Inc., an organization that trains African Soccer players—Africa’s most influential celebrities—to help teach and provide Africa’s youth with knowledge, life skills and support to live HIV-free.
“Ethan’s message is a simple one.” remarked Shelly Igdaloff, Chair of the youth philanthropy program at The Columbus Jewish Foundation. “Everyone can play a role in helping to make the world a better place. As members of the Jewish community and the global community, it is our responsibility to make our own mark. As a community, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.”
The CJYF was formed last fall thanks to a pilot incentive grant from the Jewish Teen Funders Network and local matching dollars, Columbus was one of only ten communities chosen to be included in the program. Ricky Shechtel, co-founder of JTFN and current chair of the Jewish Funders Network noted that “the foundation provided by Jewish youth philanthropy programs will strengthen the teens’ insight and commitment to philanthropy, and that the alumni of these programs will engage in lifelong giving within the framework of Jewish values.”
“The CJYF devoted a good portion of their year to learning more about how our community operates, what it requires to function effectively, and perhaps most importantly, the agencies and organizations that pull it all together. . . “ Shuman added. “One year, six meetings, and four agency visits later, the members of the Columbus Jewish Youth Foundation have asked the right questions, debated the right issues, made good decisions and should be considered among Columbus’ brightest and most knowledgeable philanthropists. So much so, you might even go as far as to call them “philanthropologists”.
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