An Affiliate of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Charlotte
' X
Vol. 37, No. 4
Nissan-lyar 5775
April 2015
We Answer the Needs
of the Jewish World
Through our Annual Cam
paign, the Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte joins with 153
Federations aeross North Ameriea
to answer the needs of the Jewish
world.
When a ehild needs a Jewish
edueation, a subsidy to partieipate
in a Jewish experienee like Jewish
summer eamp or a BBYO leader
ship eonferenee, Federation is
there. When a family loses its in-
eome or an entire eommunity is
devastated by a disaster, Federa
tion is there. It’s a pledge we live
by.
We are there to help a dis
tressed family regain its footing;
to reseue and rebuild after a eatas-
trophe. We make sure a Floloeaust
survivor isn’t deserted, and that no
one who is disabled is without as-
sistanee. Federation holds out a
safety net. And we’ll never let it
fall.
The Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte has been sup
porting, sustaining and revitaliz
ing Jewish life for 75 years. Today
our work is far from finished -
and we need your support to meet
our 2015 Campaign Goal of
$3,700,000 ... mueh needed dol
lars to help us meet the needs of
our entire Jewish eommunity.
Your eontribution enables us to
use your gift wherever it’s needed
most. 70% of our Annual Cam
paign is allocated to nearly 50
local agencies and programs in
Charlotte; while 30% of the cam
paign is allocated to our partner
agencies in Israel, and in 70 coun
tries around the world.
Help us answer the needs of the
Jewish world by making your
CAMPAIGN 2015: AT A GLANCE
Goal: $3,700,000
919
Donors
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pledge to Federation today.
We pledge to answer the needs
but we can only do that with your
help. If you have already pledged
to the 2015 Annual Campaign, we
thank you. If not, please consider
a meaningful pledge today. For a
complete list of our 2015 alloca
tions, or to donate online, please
visit www.jewishcharlotte.org. All
pledges are payable and due by
December 31, 2015.
Thank you for making a differ
ence! ^
Members of the 2015 Campaign team are hard at work taking "Seifies” with Federation
donors during face-to-face soiicitations.
Want to have your seifie featured in the Chariotte Jewish News?
Contact Sue Littauer, Director of Deveiopment, at the Jewish Federation, 704-944-6758
or sueJittauer@jewishchariotte.org
Julia Greenfield and Elise
Kosofsky take a selfie.
Selfie by Shari Abrams and
Jill Blumenthal
David Van Glish and Joe Zucker
show how seifies are done.
Shalom Park Environmental Initiative
Begins
By Amy Krakovitz
Walk around anywhere in
Shalom Park and you will wit
ness the usage of energy. Elec
tric lights shining, water
fountains bubbling, computers
whirring, music playing, and
more. With a property the size
of this park, you can bet the
“carbon footprint” is enor
mous. And it is well known
that reducing this “footprint”
would be advantageous, both
in the practical sense, as it
would reduce energy costs,
and in the spiritual sense, as it
would be part of tikkun olam.
Adam Levy of Temple Beth
El sees this, too. As a former busi
ness associate of Jay Faison, he
was asked to serve on the advisory
board of Faison’s non-profit or
ganization, ClearPath. His “com
pensation” for serving on the
board is the opportunity to grant
$50,000 to any climate related
cause he wants.
“I really wanted to create a
local experiment to see a grass
roots effort,” Levy explains. “So I
offered the grant to the Founda
tion of Shalom Park to bring
awareness on a local level.”
It’s no surprise that a project of
this size requires a huge effort on
the part of the organizations in
Shalom Park. There is a Steering
Committee to oversee all the as
pects of the project, chaired by
Bette Andrews of Temple Beth El.
There are three subcommittees
tasked with the following:
Carbon Footprint Reduction Commute, left to right:
Lisa Shpritz, George Cronson, Bette Andrews, Ken Katz,
and Kevin Levine
1) Carbon Footprint Rednc-
tion - this subcommittee is
chaired by Kevin Levine and has
already held their first workshop
(report from this below).
2) Education - to be spear
headed by Rabbis Jonathan
Freirich and Noam Rancher.
3) Community Garden - the
garden will act as an activity and
learning hub for families, school
classes, seniors, and camp groups.
Environmental education will be
injected into the activities sur
rounding the community garden.
Some education will be based on
Jewish values. Garden yield will
be donated to Jewish Family Serv
ices or sold to create funds for
JFS.
Carbon Footprint Reduction
Committee
The Carbon Footprint Reduc
tion Committee created a mission
statement at its work
shop: “To assess the cur
rent energy/water/waste
usage in Shalom Park
and report; to evaluate,
prioritize, and recom
mend changes to the
three main properties on
Shalom Park; to assist in
implementation and
measurement from base
line to end of year (and
forward from year to
year) to assess
progress.”
They have already
begun their assessment
by engaging North Car
olina Interfaith Power and Light to
provide a free energy audit of
Temples Beth El and Israel.
NCIPL’s focus is to help faith-
based organizations across North
Carolina to understand ways to
cut their energy costs. Results
have not been reported yet.
The committee also heard a
presentation from the US Green
Building Council that educated
them on energy and atmosphere,
indoor environmental quality,
water efficiency, sustainability,
materials and resources, location
and transportation.
Professional Staff
The Shalom Park Environmen
tal Initiative also hired its first pro
fessional part time Project
Manager, Lisa Garfinkle. “My
hope is that this whole project in
creases the Park’s awareness of
(Continued on page 8)