H eadlines
What’s in a Name? Meet the Newly-named Nazun
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
AFTER 17 YEARS under the
name Challah for Hunger, the
Philadelphia-based grassroots
hunger-relief organization
rebranded itself on Jan. 10 as
Nazun, the Hebrew word for “we
will nourish.”
The organization, created
in 2004 at Scripps College to
address food insecurity among
students, began with members
coming together to bake
challah to raise money for
local nonprofits fighting food
insecurity. As Challah for Hunger grew,
it began to operate equally under
the three pillars of community,
philanthropy and advocacy,
becoming not only an entity
pushing to pass legislation to
relieve food insecurity on college
campuses, but also an incubator
for young leaders interested
in advocacy work beyond
anti-hunger efforts. Nazun now
has active chapters in 23 states.

However, most outsiders
were not aware of the organiza-
tion’s work.

“We found that a lot of the
public perception of Challah for
Hunger didn’t necessarily match
all of that multifaceted work
that we were doing,” Nazun
Executive Director Rebecca Bar
said. Board member and naming
working group chair Amy
Zitelman experienced that
firsthand, and an analysis
conducted with 20 stake-
holder interviews consisting
of funders, donors, alumni
and students reflected similar
misconceptions. “When I told people I joined
the board of Challah for Hunger,
most people thought it was a
baking group,” she said.

Nazun leadership started to
think about changing the name
from Challah For Hunger before
COVID, but when pandemic
restrictions prevented them
from baking challah, the need
for a name change became even
more apparent.

The organization was faced
with a question: Who is Challah
for Hunger without the challah?
“When the pandemic hit,
and we couldn’t bake for close
to two years, that question
wound up really being answered
for us, which was we still are
relevant, viable, vibrant and very
much active in all of the rest of
the work that we do, beyond
coming together and making
and breaking bread with one
another,” Bar said.

In partnership with branding
agency Little Warriors, the
organization chose a name that
better reflected the breadth of
its work.

The word “Nazun” created a
sense of curiosity, argued Rabbi
Lily Solochek, Nazun director of
programs and education.

“It really opens up an oppor-
tunity for us to say, ‘This is what
we do as an organization. This is
the advocacy work we do; this is
the community-building we do;
this is the philanthropy we do,’”
Solochek said.

Before becoming Nazun’s
director of programs and educa-
tion, Solochek was a staff adviser
for a Challah for Hunger chapter
at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison — as well as someone
who experienced food insecurity
in college.

“College, in general, puts a
huge demand on students, in
terms of academics and extra-
curriculars and internships and
all these things,” they said. “And
adding one more layer for any
student of not knowing where
they’re going to get their next
meal, if they’re going to get their
next meal ... It adds this extra
layer of stress.”
When the pandemic struck,
dining hall closures and students
going home prematurely for
the semester brought more
awareness to food insecurity
and, subsequently, to Nazun’s
mission. “The statistics that only
very few people knew about
became front and center in the
headlines,” Bar said.

In addition to having a
presence on college campuses,
Nazun has partnered with
nonprofit Swipe Out Hunger
since 2019.

The organizations have
similar missions and meet with
legislators together to push for
the passage of anti-hunger bills.

“In Pennsylvania and beyond,
Campus chapter members of Nazun push for the passing of anti-hunger
legislation on the state and federal levels.
Courtesy of Nazun
we provide an outlet for a lot
of their students to engage in
systemic policy change,” Swipe
Out Hunger CEO and founder
Rachel Sumekh said.

Swipe Out Hunger also
receives 50% of the money raised
by Nazun’s challah bake sales.

Nazun spearheaded a national
campaign called FUEL Higher
Ed, advocating for “funda-
mental, universal, equitable and
long term” solutions to ending
on-campus hunger.

Along with Swipe Out
Hunger, Nazun is looking
to help pass the Hunger Free
Campus, which provides state-
by-state funding for universities
and colleges. The organization
also advocated for the EATS
Act, which reduces federal
restrictions on the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program.

In 2021, Nazun launched a
b’nai mitzvah pilot program for
young Jews looking to host their
own bakes to raise awareness of
food insecurity.

In 2022, Bar hopes to
expand Nazun’s presence to
all 50 states as well as, when
it’s safe, resume baking challah
with community members.

Even after two years of
challah being a small fraction
of Nazun’s mission and now
absent from its name, there’s
clarity about the role challah
played in Nazun’s inception
and growth.

“Challah gave us a reason
to come together,” said Carly
Zimmerman, Challah for
Hunger CEO from 2013-2019.

“The challah baking was
certainly a unique part of it,
but it’s so much bigger than
that.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
Abrams Hebrew Academy to Expand its Campus
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
THE ABRAMS HEBREW
Academy in Yardley is getting
three acres of land from Jeffrey
Siegel, the developer who owns
the property next door.

School leaders want to
redevelop the land into a series of
4 FEBRUARY 3, 2022
flat fields and facilities that can be
used for sports teams, after-school
programs and recess, according
to Head of School Rabbi Ira
Budow. Right now, the school has
a playground and some fields,
but it could use more recreational
space, Budow explained.

Soccer fields, basketball
courts and a track are all possi-
bilities. The head of school wants
to make the fields turf, too, so
students can use them in all
seasons. “When it gets cold here and
there’s no grass, it sometimes
precludes the kids from going
outside,” Budow said. “You
don’t want children to be inside
all the time.”
Siegel is Jewish and a Yardley
native. But he has no ties to
JEWISH EXPONENT
Abrams and he has lived in
New York City for the past
30-plus years. The developer just
likes giving back to the Jewish
community, he said.

“They are our neighbors,”
Siegel added. “This was, frankly,
an easy and beautiful opportu-
nity to support this wonderful
school.” In November, the rabbi was
looking to expand the school’s
outdoor territory, and he
contacted the developer’s office.

Siegel’s Yardley property
features a long building in which
businesses, including a restau-
rant and software company, rent
space. But the building doesn’t
take up the entire 19 acres.

See Abrams, Page 17
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM