MAY/JUNE 2020 A PUBLICATION OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS. THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY. FISHER FLIGHT: HOW THE MAURERS ARE INSPIRING OTHERS PAGE 4-5 COUPLE GIVES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY THAT GIFTED THEM REFUGE PAGE 8 MAY/JUNE 2020 No Matter the Social IN THIS ISSUE Distance, We Are Here For You Security ..................................3 April 13, 2020 I had a completely different Annual Campaign .........................4 article that I was going to write for this magazine. It was Planned Giving & Endowment ...............7 going to be about how we are entering into summer and Jewish Family Services ......................8 sharing our plans for all of the great programming we have NEXTGen .................................9 in store. However, in times of pandemic, quarantine, Education ...............................10 and social distancing, my letter now serves as a PJ Library ................................13 reminder of who we are, the Federation, and what we Engagement .............................14 do for the community: serve our community no matter DEBRA BARTON GRANT Israel & Overseas .........................16 the crisis in good times and CEO and Executive Vice President bad ones. Hasten Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis ....18 When the Jewish Federation formed 115 years ago, it raised funds to support Jews as they immigrated to America, aid Jewish Community Center .................20 the local community, and Jews around the world. Today, our mission is much of the same. We are the central Jewish Community Relations Council ........21 philanthropic, planning, community engagement, and unifying partner for our local Jewish community. Our Hooverwood .............................22 promise is to bring the community together no matter what, and the Federation is here for you. Synagogues ..............................23 Our agencies are struggling financially due to recent Annual Meeting ..........................BC closures to protect ourselves from COVID-19, but while at the same time, we are concerned about the people Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis who need us the most. This includes the people in our community who are isolated, those who struggle financially, JFGI NEXTGen suffer from severe mental health conditions or addiction, JFGI Israel Connections and/or don’t have the means to take care of themselves. IndyJFS @JFGIndy @JFGIndy Our tagline, “Stronger Together,” is never more relevant @JFGINEXTGen @JFGINEXTGen than it has been in the past several weeks. We have @IndyJFS incredible volunteers in the community who stepped up to help in any way that they could. They reached out JewishFederationof GreaterIndianapolis and connected to people in the community to help raise funds and food for Popsie’s Pantry.They helped us make thousands of calls to community members and for some, helped us connect our case management team to those Jewish FederAtion news who needed to be connected to additional resources. We have continued to engage with one another in ways CEO/EXEC. VICE PRESIDENT EDITOR we haven’t before. Debra Barton Grant Andrea Hirsch We know there has been a lot of change in our community PRESIDENT DESIGN/LAYOUT and too much loss due to the coronavirus. We have Beth Klapper Joel Bustamante adapted our programming to connect others virtually Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc. through Shabbat candle lightings, cooking classes, group 6705 Hoover Road, Indianapolis, IN 46260-4120 lunch dates, children’s programs, and more. Phone: 317-726-5450 Fax: 317-205-0307 When this crisis is over, we will continue to rebuild and www.jewishindianapolis.org persevere. We will push forward, for we are resilient, and we will come out as a stronger community together. The mission of the Jewish Federation of Greater We focus this magazine on you - the people of this Indianapolis is to promote the vision of a vibrant, community by celebrating the impact that individuals engaged, inclusive, and sustainable Jewish community have on our community and why they choose to attend by serving as its central philanthropic, planning, programs, network with fellow Jews, and support the community engagement, and unifying partner. Federation because of what we do for our community. I hope you enjoy these stories. Please be safe and healthy. Grant Mendenhall Special Agent in Charge Indianapolis Division SECURITY Safe Indy: Community Welcomes Grant Mendenhall as First Community. Prior Security to Director WELCOME! Bradley “Grant” MendenhallThe Jewishjoined Federation the ofFBI’s Greater Indianapolis all community partners. Division Grant will have Indianapolis, Indianapolis is pleased to announce oversight of the Jewish community’s the hiring of a new Community Security newest initiative, Safe Indy, a collaborative ʹͲǡʹͲͳͺ Director in partnership with national security program, focused on providing partner Secure Community Network the highest quality support to every Jewish Ǥ(SCN). organization in the community. Safe Indy The Secure Community Network (SCN), will develop a strategic approach to a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is the official safety community security, provide customized and security organization of the Jewish support to every Jewish institution, establish ǡǤǤ community in North America. Founded practices and protocols for community- in 2004 under the auspices of The Jewish wide collaboration and communication, Federations of North America and the and implement regular and ongoing Conference of Presidents of Major security training programs throughout Ǥ ͷǡAmerican Jewish Organizations, SCN the community. works on behalf of 146 federations, the 50 Having started on April 1, Grant has ͳͻͻͲǡlargest Jewish nonprofit organizations in hit the ground running and is working North America and over 300 independent alongside community leaders to create communities as well as with other partners a strong foundation for Safe Indy while in the public, private, nonprofit and also supporting Covid-19 organizational academic sectors to ensure the safety, recovery efforts throughout the Ǥ ͳͻͻͺǡǤ security and resiliency of the Jewish people. community. In the coming weeks, Grant Title: Community Security Director Security has been and continues to be will begin focusing on facility assessments, of the utmost importance to the Jewish emergency action plans and community Education: B.S. in Political Science, Ball State University Federation, agencies, synagogues and training opportunities. Ǥ ʹͲͲͳǡǤ Military Experience: Served as an Infantry Officer in the United ǡBradley “Grant” Mendenhall States Marine Corps ǤǡǤGrant started his FBI career as a Special Relationships: Indiana law Agent on March 5, 1990 and was enforcement, national and global intelligence community, initially assigned to the Milwaukee emergency preparedness Division, where he worked Violent community Crime and Gang investigations in the ʹͲͲʹ ǤKenosha Resident Agency. In 1998, he Professional Experience: 30 was transferred to FBI Headquarters years at the FBI as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Criminal Investigative Division. In March ʹͲͲ͵ǡǤ 2001, Grant was transferred to the Salt Ǧ ǡMake ǡ a supplemental gift on Lake City Division, where he served as a top of your annual campaign ǡ ʹͲͲͷǤ ʹͲͲͷ ʹͲͲ͸ǡǤSquad Supervisor in the Violent Crime and donation to the Safe Indy Domestic Terrorism programs. Additionally, he led the interagency Counterterrorism Security Intiaitive. Visit: www. Intelligence Section in support of the 2002 jewishindianapolis.org/security Units. In December 2006,Olympic Mr. WinterMendenhall Games. initiated the FBI’s invoto make a donation. In August 2003, Grant was named FBI February 2013 to September 2014, he On-Scene Commander, Guantanamo served as the Deputy Director for Law ǡǤ ON THE COVER: The Jewish Federation Bay, Cuba, where he served until June Enforcement at the Joint Interagency Ǥ ʹͲͲͻ2005. From June 2005 to December Task Force-National Capital Region. of Greater Indianapolis is full circle, 2006, Grant served as Acting Unit Chief serving as a central philanthropic In September 2014, Grant was promoted organization, and as the community ʹͲͳͲǡǤ of the Fly Team and Military Liaison and to Assistant Special in Charge, Intelligence Detainee Operations Units. In December connector. In this series of images, you Division, Washington Field Office, where will see that the Federation assists the 2006, he initiated the FBI’s involvement in he served until June 2016, when he was ǡ ±ǡǡ ǡʹͲͳͲelderly, provides the prosecution of numerous High Value promoted to the Senior Executive Service as food for the Detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This the Section Chief of International Terrorism ʹͲͳͳǤ ʹͲͳͳ ʹͲͳ͵ǡǤinteragency effort evolved into the High Operations Section I. He was subsequently underserved, Value Detainee Prosecution Task Force. promoted to Deputy Assistant Director receives money From April 2009 to April 2010, he served in the Counterterrorism Division Ǥ ǡʹͲͳ͵ over from donors, as a Unit Chief in International Terrorism Operations Branch I in October 2016. grants money to ʹͲͳͶǡǤ Operations Section I, and thereafter served He was promoted to Assistant Director of the community as Deputy Legal Attaché, Baghdad, Iraq, CTD in March 2017 and served that role in various ways, from April 2010Ǧ toǤ April 2011. From May until his was promoted to Special Agent and celebrates 2011 to February 2013, Grant served as in Charge of the Indianapolis Division in and engages an Assistant