H EADLINES
Jewish Federation Raises $1M,
Secures $500K Match
L OCA L
ANDY GOTLIEB | JE MANAGING EDITOR
THE JEWISH FEDERATION
of Greater
Philadelphia announced that its Maimonides
Fund reached a $1 million
fundraising goal in just six
weeks — and that total will
be bolstered by an additional
$500,000 grant from Jewish
Federations of North America.

Th e entire $1.5 million
will be distributed to Jewish
community organizations for
pandemic-related needs.

Jewish Federation Executive
Vice President
Melissa Greenberg said the donations
received either came from new
donors or were from existing
donors who went above their
prior donation levels.

“People have been beyond
generous,” she said. “We really
are amazed by the generosity of
the community.”
Both professionals and
volunteers had one-on-one
conversations with potential
donors about contributing,
Greenberg said, noting that
this is how Jewish Federation
can best serve the public.

“We are here to really
provide the resources to
support people,” she said,
adding that the organization is
nimble in marshaling assets in
times of crisis.

Th e ongoing pandemic has
increased demand on local
agencies trying to meet the
need of clients — needs such as
food insecurity, fi nancial insta-
bility, job loss and isolation.

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Melissa Greenberg
Courtesy of Jewish Federation
of Greater Philadelphia
People have been beyond generous. We really are amazed by the generosity of the
community.” MELISSA GREENBERG
Agencies selected to receive
funding are on the front lines
of meeting pandemic-related
needs. LEGAL DIRECTORY
LOUIS B. HIMMELSTEIN
& ASSOCIATES, P.C.

Agencies receiving grants
include Abramson Senior
Care, Federation Housing, Inc.,
Female Hebrew Benevolent
Society, Friendship Circle,
Golden Slipper Gems, Hebrew
Free Loan Society, Jewish
Family and Children’s Service,
JEVS Human Services, Jewish
Relief Agency, KleinLife,
KAVOD SHEF, Mitzvah Food
Program and JCHAI.

Allocations will be used for
a variety of needs, including
rent relief, home repairs for
seniors, extra meals, infor-
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mation technology upgrades
for clients, technology assis-
tance, supermarket gift s cards,
additional staff , a new refrig-
erator/freezer, overtime costs,
transportation and for buying
health and safety items like
hand sanitizer and personal
protective equipment.

“Food insecurity and mental
health are two of the areas we
wanted to focus our COVID-19
philanthropic dollars on,”
donors Bethany and Garett
Shiner said. “We know that a
lot of people are struggling this
year and feel fortunate to be
able to make our gift go further
and help even more people
by supporting the Jewish
Federation’s Maimonides
Fund,” KleinLife President and
CEO Andre Krug said the
money his organization
receives will be used to buy
meals to deliver to homebound
seniors. “Jewish Federation has
really stepped up and helped us
JEWISH EXPONENT
since day one” of the pandemic,
he said.

KleinLife has delivered
about 90,000 meals to more
than 600 seniors since the
pandemic began. Th e number
of meals delivered each month
has nearly tripled since the
pandemic began, Krug said.

Th e fund provided will
allow KleinLife to buy about
45,000 meals, Krug said.

Transitioning online
required a signifi cant early
eff ort in revamping delivery
programs and teaching seniors
how to use computers, Krug
said. KleinLife is now off ering
10 to 15 programs a week
online for seniors, in addition
to other virtual programming.

“We’re as busy as ever,” he
said. “It’s just been a diff erent
kind of busy.”
In addition to agencies
receiving grants, there will
be two other initiatives — an
emergency cash assistance
fund managed by JFCS that
will provide individual grants
to those in need — and an
emerging need funds for
things such as bulk purchases
of tablets to help reduce social
isolation, trauma-informed
training to care for Holocaust
survivors and the acquisition
of PPE.

Brian Gralnick, who is
Jewish Federation’s director
of social responsibility, said
agencies are generally seeing
increases in the need for their
services, which ebbs and fl ows
as the pandemic continues.

“We’re seeing a wide variety
of individuals who are coming
and seeking support,” he said.

“We’ve seen people who’ve
never been in these circum-
stances before.”
He noted that some former
agency volunteers are now
clients themselves.

Greenberg said the money
likely will be distributed in the
fi rst quarter of 2021. ●
agotlieb@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0797
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