The Charlotte Jewish News - May 2008 - Page 7
Charlotte delegates Making it Matter at W15. Not pic
tured: Laura Cherny.
^Charlotte Delegates “Make It Matter” at Washington 15
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Eleven delegates from
Charlotte joined more than 1,000
young leaders of United Jewish
Communities/the Federations of
North America as they gathered
in the nation’s capital March 16-
18 for Washington 15, aiming to
“Make It Matter” through politi
cal, social and philanthropic
action.
The Charlotte delegates were:
Brian Axelroth, Laura Chemy,
Melissa Klingberg, Herb
Greenman, Jodi Greenwald, Josh
Greenwald, Michael Koss,
David Levin, Jennifer Ruben,
Jason Wenz and Tair Zaeh. The
Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte sponsored their con
ference attendance with gener
ous individual subsidies of
$500.
Held every four years and
marking its 15th anniversary,
the conference, organized by
UJC National Young
Leadership, drew participants
ages 25-45 — two-thirds of
whom were first-timers — from
more than 70 communities in
the United States and Canada to
engage in discussion and events
geared around the call to “Make
It Matter.”
The March 16-18 event
included a series of inspiring
plenary sessions such as
“Jewish Identity and Making it
Matter” and “How You, Too,
Can Change the World,” break
out forums such as “What’s
Jewish About Public Service”
and “Profits for a Purpose,” and
culminated with visits to
Capitol Hill, where partic
ipants put the lessons
they’d learned into action
to engage members of
Congress on key domestic
and foreign policy issues.
Washington 15 drew an
array of major speakers,
including Jenna Bush,
author and international
child rights advocate; for
mer Secretary of States
Madeleine Albright and
Lawrence Eagleburger;
NBC News reporter
David Gregory; National
Public Radio reporter Mara
Liasson; former White House
Press Secretary Ari Fleischer;
former U.S. Ambassador to
Israel Daniel Kurtzer; former
White House Communications
Director Ann Lewis, and others.
UJC’s President and CEO
Howard Rieger applauded the
participants, underscoring that
they must get increasingly
involved in a powerful collec
tive federation system that
raised three-quarters of a billion
dollars in two Israel Emergency
Campaigns in the past decade,
nearly $30 million for Hurricane
Katrina aid to the Gulf Coast
and New Orleans, and which
last year raised nearly $900 mil
lion in an annual campaign and
more than $3 billion in endow
ments to help Jews and others in
need worldwide.
“Young Jewish voices need
to be heard in every board room
in every federation” in North
America, Rieger said. “Be there
when the call comes.”
The story of one speaker,
Jonathan Greenblatt, embodied
the event’s theme to Make it
Matter. As an official in the
Clinton White House, Greenblatt
learned that 1.2 billion people
worldwide lacked clean drink
ing water, which causes 2.5 bil
lion deaths from disease annual
ly. Comparing that to a $15 bil
lion bottled water industry in the
United States, Greenblatt co
founded Ethos Water, which
contributes five cents from
every bottle sold to raise $10
millon for clean drinking water
by 2010. So far, the prod
uct, now owned by
Starbucks, has raised $6.2
million, delivering clean
water to more than 400,000
people.
Growing up, Greenblatt
said his parents taught
him about tikkun olam,
repairing the world,
through actions like
marching for Soviet
Jewry. “I learned the
value of being part of a
mission,” Greenblatt
said. He detailed how
his then-tiny startup
began taking hold when
supermarket workers
were so inspired by his
mission that they built
creative store displays
to market the water. “Do
not underestimate the
power of a small group of peo
ple to change the world,” he
said.
Similarly inspired by a
desire to help better the
world is Jenna Bush, who
recently published “Ana’s
Story: A Journey of Hope.”
The book tells the story of a
teenage mother with HIV
from Central America,
whom Bush she met while
working for UNICEF docu
menting the stories of
young people in need. “I
really admire your interest
in making it matter,” she
told participants, urging
them to spend time with
children and become a role
model for them.
Erica Brown, scholar-in-resi-
dence for the Jewish Federation
of Greater Washington, remind
ed participants of the words of
the book Pirkei Avot, the Ethics
of Our Fathers, which says the
world is built on acts of loving
kindness. “This story is your
story,” she said. “We have so
many choices. Our message is,
choose one. Choose wisely.”
For more details about
Washington 15 and to see audio
and video clips, see www.wash-
ingtonl5.org. 4*
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Localf Globaly Eternal
Josh Greenwald, Michael Koss and Tair
Zaeh at the Ben Gurion Society
Reception. Charlotte will be starting a
BGS program in the near future. Stay
tuned for details.
J
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