Jewish Community Foundation Grants Exceed $50 MILLION!

Since 2002, the Jewish Community Foundation has awarded more than $50 million in grants from all sources to Jewish and secular nonprofits locally, nationally, in Israel, and around the world.

Leading the Way for a Brighter Future

The Jewish Community Foundation makes grants with an eye toward the future. We fund new and innovative projects designed to address unmet needs in the Jewish community, or which offer a unique approach to enhancing the Jewish community. Foundation board members and community volunteers come together each year with the challenging task of selecting projects that have the most potential for enhancing our Jewish community – locally and in Israel. We also stress the importance of strengthening our local Jewish organizations to ensure they are here tomorrow. Some of the programs and organizations funded since 2002 include:

• Valley Beit Midrash, organizational seed funding and funding for Start Me Up! and Jewish Leadership Corps
• Jewish Genetic Diseases Center, organizational seed funding and screening events
• Hillel at ASU, Comprehensive Israel Engagement Initiative; mentoring program
• Congregation Beth Israel, community mikvah
• Phoenix Hebrew Academy, Eretz Israel – A Zionist Curriculum
• Council for Jews with Special Needs, camp inclusion resources
• PJ Library, organizational seed funding
• Pardes Jewish Day School, The First Step: testing and resources for children with learning and behavioral challenges
• Greater Phoenix Board of Rabbis, Re-establishment of the Jewish Community Relations Council
• Valley of the Sun JCC and East Valley JCC, preschool scholarships
• Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Helping Hands
• Arizona Jewish Historical Society, Arizona Jewish Cultural Arts Project
• Phoenix Jewish Free Loan, Jewish Community Burial Fund
• Temple Gan Elohim, Southwest Valley Outreach

For a complete list of grants made in 2014, see our annual report.

Focusing on Israel’s 2.5 Million Living in Poverty

Israel has one of the highest underemployment rates in the developed world and the gap between the rich and poor is widening. According to the 2014 Alternative Poverty Report issued by Latet, a humanitarian aid organization, 2.54 million people are living in poverty, including one in three children. That’s why, when the Foundation decided to narrow its focus for Israel grant making, the mission became: “To improve the lives of vulnerable families and individuals in Israel by supporting programs that provide them with the tools needed to become self-reliant and break the cycle of poverty.” Programs funded include:

• IT Works, employment and leadership training in Netanya for low income and unemployed Jewish women
• Women’s Spirit, Financial Independence for Women Victims of Domestic Violence
• Crossroads, Intern to Learn (vocational training that helps Anglo teens in Israel break into the professional world by giving them hands on work experience)
• Latet – To Give a Future, microcredit and business development program

None of this would be possible without your support, and the foresight of those who came before us. Contributions to the unrestricted Fund for Jewish Philanthropy and the Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund, enable the Foundation to award competitive grants annually. If you have a Donor Advised Fund and would like to discuss funding opportunities or needs in the community, contact us and we will happily meet with you.

Thank you for all you do in leading the way for a brighter future!