5007 Providence Road
Charlotte. NC 28226
Address Correction Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Charlotte, NC
Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 19 No. 1
Tevet-Shevat 5757
January 1997
January Kicks Off1997 Federation/UJA Campaign
Jill Newman, Ruth Goldt>erg, speaker Malcolm Hoenleln, and Marvin
Goldberg at Major Gifts event.
‘97 Campaign
Goal Set at
$1.6 Million
The goal of the Jewish
Federation of Charlotte’s 1997
campaign has been set at $1.6 mil
lion, the highest ever in the history
of the local community.
“It is an ambitious goal, much
higher than we have ever aimed
for. But the needs of the communi
ty in Charlotte and abroad grow
each year and it is our responsibil
ity to meet these needs,” said Bill
Gorelick, 1997 Campaign Chair.
“We must meet this challenge.”
“Each year we face the task of
raising enough funds to answer the
call of the agencies here in our
community and throughout the
world,” said Jill Newman,
Campaign Co-Chair. 1 have every
confidence that we will achieve
our goal with the support of the
community.”
“During the campaign we
a!i:c want to help our supporters
better understand how their dona
tion supports the wide range of
agencies and services that are
essential to continued growth of
Jewish life,” continued Newman.
“We believe that each solicitation
is an opportunity for us to educate
and to hear from our donors what
is of importance to them.”
Among the more than 30
organizations, agencies and pro
grams that received funds last year
were the Jewish Community
Center, the Blumenthal Jewish
Home, Jewish Family Services
and area preschool programs.
“Each dollar that we raise has
a lasting impact on our lives as
Jews. Although we recognize that
we have set an ambitious goal, I
believe that it is an achievable
one,” said Mr. Gorelick. “We have
assembled a terrific group of cam
paign leaders and I am certain that
together with the community we
can grow our campaign to $1.6
million.”
Malcolm Hoenlein,
Executive Director of
Conference of Presidents Speaks
to Major Givers
With the lighting of the fourth
Chanukah candle, the 1997
Annual Campaign “kicked off’ on
Sunday, December 8 with the
Major Gifts dessert reception.
Again this year the Major Gifts
effort is being headed by Bob
Speizman and the reception was
held at the beautiful home of Issac
and Sonya Luski.
The evening featured guest
speaker Malcolm Hoenlein, the
Executive Director of the
Conference of Presidents of Major
Jewish Organizations. As the
director of that agency, Mr.
Hoenlein coordinates policy for
mation and presentation of issues
of international and national
Jewish concern. Mr. Hoenlein is
also a renown speaker who has
traveled and met with heads of
state, governmental leaders and
Jewish communities throughout
the world.
“It was an incredible evening.
Mr. Hoenlein’s presentation was
informative and very moving,”
commented Marvin Goldberg, the
Executive Director of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Charlotte.
“We were fortunate to have a
speaker of Mr. Hoenlein’s stature
speak for Major Gifts,” said Ruth
Goldberg, Women’s Campaign
Chair. “He was able to share a dif
ferent perspective on the state of
the Jewish world and inspired us
to take on an active role in sup
porting Jewish life.”
Federation President Rich
Osborne announced that as of
December 8, the campaign had
raised $634,(XX) which puts the
community well on the way to
achieving the $1.6 million dollar
goal. “We are off to a great start.
The Major Givers are fully behind
the campaign and have demon
strated their support with their
donations this year. This is a great
beginning to what 1 believe will he
the highest total ever raised in
Charlotte.”
Give Us Six Weeks
Twenty-four men and women
volunteers will lead the 1997 cam
paign effort, assisted by Bill
Gorelick, Campaign Chair; Jill
Newman, Campaign Co-Chair;
Phyllis Schiffman, Women’s
Division President; and Ruth
Goldberg, Women’s Campaign
Chair.
This dedicated campaign
team has committed itself to face
soliciting for the upcoming fund
raising drive. “Face to face solicit
ing means going out to meet per
sonally with our donors. This
enables us to better explain the
needs of the community and listen
to their concerns,” said Bill
Gorelick.
“This year we are asking our
campaign volunteers to give us
only six weeks of their time. We
will begin on January 13 and end
with Super Sunday on February
23. Our goal is to complete the
campaign within this lime period.
This makes it easier for btHh the
solicitors and the donors,” said Jill
Newman.
Solicitor Training this year
will be lead by Karen Marcus,
Chair of the UJA Young
Leadership Cabinet. “Karen will
bring a whole new dimension to
solicitor training,” said Mrs.
Newman. “She brings a wealth of
experience as a solicitor and key
UJA leader. I know that all our
solicitors will benefit from hearing
her speak.”
“We are thrilled to be working
with such a dynamic group of
individuals,” continued Mr.
Gorelick. The Major Gifts
Division is being chaired by Bob
Speizman. Ed Newman chairs the
continued on puffe 3
Federation
Announces
Allocations
The Board of Directors of
the Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte approved
allocations for 1997 at its
November board meeting.
Rich Osborne, JFGC
President, was pleased to
report, “Allocations this year
went very well. The process
was extremely efficient, and
the Federation allocated a
record $1,394,300.” Osborne
further stated that “Mike Van
Glish. in his first year as the
Allocations Chair, did an
excellent job and he and his
committee are to be compli
mented for their service to our
community.”
Nancy Kipnis, Marcia
Simon and Daniel Levine
chaired the three panels that
had the responsibility for allo
cating funds.
Osborne stated, “One
new program. Teen Israel, was
allocated funds this year. This
program will provide funds to
assist teens going to Israel for
a summer experience. We are
very excited because this pro
gram is another first for the
community. Information
regarding Ae program will be
available soon.” As a final
comment, Mike Van Glish
stated, “There are many needs
both locally and overseas, but
we can only fund them to the
best of our ability. Clearly, we
need to raise more dollars in
our aimual campaign, and we
are optimistic that we can.”
See Federation on page 2
Update on the Israeli Sports Center Athletes
We are very proud to
announce to the Charlotte Jewish
Community that at the World
Games held in Miami Beach,
Florida on December 6, 7, and 8,
our athletes were superb! In fact,
participants came in second to the
United States in gold medals. In
all, 15 gold medals were won by:
Ilan Lusky, Boaz Kremer, and
Amir Neufeld. We are extremely
proud of our athletes and on behalf
of our community, we wish them a
hearty MAZEL TOV! What an
amazing success story this is for
the tiny country of Eretz Israel to
win so many gold medals.
We thank Abraham and Rose
Luski for hosting the athletes from
Israel’s Sports Center for the
Disabled here in our city on
December 4, 19%. Over 400 peo
ple from our community came to
share this awareness evening and
special sports exhibition which
was held in the gym at the JCC. We
thank all the participants, and
everyone who helped to make this
wheek:hair exhibition a true suc
cess. Thanks to the staff at the JCC,
From left to right: Boaz Krenter, Amir Neufeld and Ilan Lusky and coach
of the Israeli team, Reuven Heller (standing).
ed to bring this “Mitzvah” event to
our Jewish community.
Alan Feldman, Marvin Goldbei^g,
Rabbi Ezring, Rabbi Bennett, and
Sue Brodsky. A special thanks to
Cari Schtflr for jnoviding his ser
vices with the monitors for the
video show; to Jeff McClelland
with the City of Chariotte Special
Transportation Services, for taking
our participants to and from the air
port and events; and also to
Carolinas Medical Center for
assisting in transporting our ath
letes throughout their stay in our
city. This program was a team
effort, and the Luskis were delight
Our gratitude also goes to
Lloyd Scher for proclaiming
December 4, 1996 as Israel’s
Sports Center for the Disabled
Day in Qiarlotte, and to Dave
Kiley, National Ccnnmissioner of
the Wheelchair Basketball
Association, both here in the
United States and Canada, for his
most uplifting words. We will miss
our new firiends firom Israel and we
want to wish them “Hatzlachah”
(success) always in life.
Israel Takes Home
15 Medals in Miami
By Heather Chait
Israel’s disabled sports
team took second place over
all at the world youth dis
abled championships held
last weekend in Miami.
The three athletes from
Ilan, the Israel Sports Center
fw ttie Disabled, collected 15
medals, fmishing behind
America with 23 medals.
The competition was
held on an all-rmind basis
with the athletes competing
in swimming, wheelchair
r^:es and shotput events.
Chosen as outstanding
athlete of the toumanMnt
was Ilan Lusky. 17 yeu% old.
who won three gold medals
and two silver medals.
Boaz Kremer, 18, and
competing in the class of
intermediate disabled ath
letes, was also awarded three
gold medals and two silver
medals, while Amir Neufeld,
17, competing in the most
seriously dis^led class, won
two gold medals, two silver
medals and a iMXHize.
Accompanying the team
was their coach Reuven
Heller. Over 300 athletes
particifMited in the event.
Reprinted from The
Jerusaiem Post, December
11, 1996.