H eadlines
Local Lions of Judah Roar at Florida Conference
L O CAL
JED WEISBERGER | JE STAFF
FIFTY-ONE JEWISH philan-
thropists from the Philadelphia
area attended the 2019
International Lion of Judah
Conference, held earlier this
month in Hollywood, Fla.

Those 51, the region’s largest
delegation in recent memory,
are among 17,000 women from
around the world who raised
more than $35.9 million in con-
tributions for Jewish causes.

At this year’s conference, the
leader of the Greater Philadelphia
delegation was Lyn Neff, the
latest winner of the Kipnis-
Wilson/Friedland Award, which
recognizes women who have
set a high standard for philan-
thropy and volunteerism in
their communities.

In addition, the award
embodies the spirit and vision
of the Lions of Judah through
a commitment to tzedakah and
tikkun olam. She was cited for
philanthropic and volunteer
commitments that made a sig-
nificant impact on her commu-
nity, not to mention setting a
standard for others in commu-
nity motivation and leadership.

Neff has been involved with
the Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia for more than 30
years. The Villanova resident
helped form the Committee
for the Jewish Poor and, with
her husband, Roy, created the
Mitzvah Food Pantry Choice
Food Program, an innovative
means of addressing food insecu-
rity using touch-screen interfaces
and nutrition-based pricing.

She also is a Jewish Federation
trustee, serves on the board of
Women’s Philanthropy, been
part of several missions and
chaired many other Jewish
Federation committees.

“I certainly felt honored,
but I also felt humbled,” Neff
said. “You are in the trenches,
doing all the work you do, and
awards are not what you think
of. I look at the list of the
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM From left: Women’s Philanthropy
chair Jodi Miller, Kipnis-Wilson/
Friedland Award Winner Lyn Neff,
and Philadelphia’s ILOJC co-chairs
Joy Wilf Keiser and Tami Astorino
Photos provided
previous seven Philadelphia
awardees and I am so humbled
that I am in their company.”
Neff joins Phyllis Finkelstein
(2016), Connie Smukler (2014),
Ann Spain (2012), Lana
Dishier (2010), Beth Reisbord
(2008), Cis Golder (2006)
and Anabelle Fishman (2004)
as past Philadelphia Lions of
Judah honorees.

“Those women have all been
role models for all the rest of
us,” Neff said.

She centers her regional
efforts around trying to allevi-
ate hunger in the Jewish com-
munity and elsewhere.

“The level of Jewish poverty
in our community is not recog-
nized as it needs to be,” Neff said.

“Say a person has only a limited
amount for food, heat and med-
icine. That person will either go
hungry, or not have his medicine
and freeze. If we can help with
the food, the money available
can got to other necessities. And
we end up not just feeding Jews,
using what money is available as
efficiently as possible.”
And she is proud to be a
Lion of Judah.

“I enjoy being in the com-
pany of other Lions,” Neff said.

“The conference in Florida
was amazing. You see so many
ideas and learn so many dif-
ferent ways to help. All of us
think more of others before
From left: Award winner Lyn Neff
and Ellyn Golder Saft
ourselves. You are at the con-
ference with 1,400 other amaz-
ing people who impress you,
and we all come back home so
energized. This is the future of
our community, with a lot of
younger women, in their 40s,
wanting to become involved
and help. Every Lion, in my
opinion, deserves an award.”
Neff and her husband also
look to help with their family’s
Auldridge Fund, a charitable
foundation. Marni Davis, in her eighth
year as the Women’s Philanthropy
director, explained what the Lions
of Judah are about and why their
work is important.

“This organization is open
to all women who contribute
$5,000 annually, in each com-
munity,” Davis said.

“We know how important
it is to be philanthropists and
we care about what we do,”
she said. l
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JANUARY 24, 2019
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