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Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
L ast week, Elvera Schwartz celebrated four years working at
Jewish Relief Agency, a volunteer-led nonprofit supplying food
and other necessities to those in the Philadelphia area who
need it.

As the organization’s director of communications and technology,
the 28-year-old Bala Cynwyd resident is responsible for getting the
word out about JRA’s volunteer opportunities and events. Because
the nonprofit relies heavily on volunteers, Schwartz’ job is vital.

Most recently, JRA hosted a food-packing event as part of Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Community Mitzvah Day to
celebrate Israel 75.

Schwartz is also responsible for running JRA’s volunteer manage-
ment system, which a volunteer created 20 years ago and was
updated during the pandemic. The system now allows volunteers
10 APRIL 27, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
to sign in on their phones upon arriv-
ing at JRA’s Northeast Philadelphia
warehouse and use their online
accounts to easily access their delivery
routes. Volunteers can give real-time
feedback to JRA staff using the system.

“We’re really, a very small staff, so
making things quicker, faster, easier —
it’s really important for us so we can
focus on some of these more time-con-
suming projects, like making sure that
every person in the community, and
especially Jewish community, who
needs food, has food,” Schwartz said.

The cause is personal to Schwartz. Born
in Philadelphia to Ukrainian immigrants,
Schwartz grew up hearing the stories of
her family’s struggles in the former Soviet
Union and the United States.

“My dad was not shy to tell me
stories when they first came here,”
Schwartz said. “He would end up
standing on Roosevelt Boulevard and
selling flowers off the boulevard, trying
to make some extra cash.”
Schwartz’ parents fled Kyiv’s antisem-
itism and arrived in Philadelphia in 1994
with Schwartz’ 5-year-old sister and
just two duffel bags in tow. Schwartz’
great-aunt sponsored the family. When
the family welcomed Schwartz to the
world a year later, she was dubbed a
“welcome-to-America gift.”
The family struggled in the early
years in the U.S., waiting in line for
welfare and food stamps.

When Schwartz was first introduced
to JRA as a volunteer in 2018, she
learned that many of the organization’s
6,000 clientele in about 3,400 house-
holds were Russian and Ukrainian
refugees. She had an epiphany.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, if JRA
existed in 1994, when they came over,
my family would have definitely been
receiving food boxes,’” Schwartz said.

Schwartz believes her parents strug-
gled so she and her sister didn’t have
to, but the lessons of survival were still
passed down.

“Nothing is handed to you.” Schwartz
said. “You have to work for what you
want.” Having spent her childhood in
Southwest Virginia, Schwartz didn’t have
a strong knowledge of Judaism or sense
of Jewish community. She was one of
four Jewish kids at her high school, and
her parents’ experience with antisem-
itism in Ukraine meant the family’s
relationship with Judaism was fraught.

The first-generation Ukrainian-
American decided to stay close to
home and matriculated at James
Madison University in 2013, where
she studied communications. As a
freshman wanting to connect with her
Jewish heritage, Schwartz attended a
Chabad dinner, where she sat across
from her now-husband.

Over her college years, her love for
Judaism grew, and, in 2015, Schwartz
served as the communications intern
for the Religious Action Center of
Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C.,
before heading back to Philadelphia.

While working at Jewish Heritage
Programs at the University of
Pennsylvania, Schwartz was introduced
to Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, who
co-founded JRA with Marc Erlbaum
in 2000. He encouraged Schwartz to
spend a day volunteering with JRA to
distribute food. Schwartz had lived in
the city for six months and was eager
for opportunities to make friends.

When Schwartz walked into the
warehouse that first day, she immedi-
ately was drawn to the organization.

“I was just overwhelmed with how
homey it felt in that space,” she said.

“Looking around and seeing so
many Jewish individuals in the space
… already connecting with all these
people on this level, was just very
moving for me.”
Schwartz spent her first day at JRA
dropping off boxes of food to about
10 community members, where her
speaking Russian came in handy. When
a communications position opened up
at the nonprofit a few months later,
Schwartz didn’t hesitate to apply.

“I really felt like this was my commu-
nity,” she said. “These are my people.

This is what I want to do.” ■
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy of Elvera Schwartz
Elvera Schwartz