A vibrant community needs an engine to keep it energized. A compassionate community needs a focal point for collective generosity. 1 A connected community needs a conduit for bringing us together, in the Lehigh Valley, Israel and around the world. The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley supports and enriches our Jewish lives, builds community and is a hub for all things Jewish. But really, Federation is YOU. Thank you for being the impact Dear Friends, the community informed, raised Maimonides Society donated in Through this partnership, we have money to help with the clean-up honor of its 30th anniversary last brought 10 local community orga- This year, we asked many of our from vandalism at the Mount Car- year put into action saving lives in nizations together to strengthen supporters a question: What mel Cemetery and took a bus load Israel. our endowments and our future. inspires you to be the impact? The of community members and day answers – all different, all import- school students to Philadelphia to We continued to innovate with our None of this would have been ant – have not only educated the Stand Against Hate. campaign, promoting a month of possible without your support. We community about the work of Impact in November and a March thank you for being the impact MARK H. SCOBLIONKO Federation, but have inspired us And as we responded to the cur- Madness-style tournament for that strengthens our community President to continue to strive for greatness rent situation, we also celebrated campaign workers in the spring. now, tomorrow, the next day and in the work that we do. our past, prepared for our future every day after that. and helped Jews in need and We launched a brand new leader- And the impact from our support- inspired Jewish life and learning ship development program called ers was felt far and wide this year, here and all over the world. Israel Next Dor. Through this pro- A vibrant community needs an engine to keep it energized. starting right here at home as we gram, we brought 12 young Jewish faced growing anti-Semitism the We celebrated the 40th anniver- adults to Israel and have watched Mark H. Scoblionko likes of which we haven’t seen for sary of HAKOL, our community’s them bring the lessons of the trip President 2014-17 A compassionate community needs a focal point for collective generosity. a long time. only Jewish newspaper, and took back home. A connected community needs a conduit for bringing us together, home another award for best in the Lehigh Valley, Israel and around the world. In response to this wave of niche publication from the Penn- And we began this year the first anti-Semitism and bomb threats sylvania NewsMedia Association. in a four-year partnership with to JCCs and other Jewish institu- LIFE & LEGACY, a program of the Mark L. Goldstein MARK L. GOLDSTEIN The Jewishlives, Federation builds communityof Butthe really,Lehigh and Federation Valley is a hub supports foris YOU. all thingsand enriches Jewish. our Jewish tions across the country, we kept We saw the ambucycle that our Harold Grinspoon Foundation. Executive Director Executive Director 2 #BeTheImpact CHELSEA I grew up in a family where philanthropy and donating money to Israel and overseas and Jewish causes was a very important value. I also grew up traveling back and forth to Israel with my family and 3 on organized trips. The culmination of my Israel experiences was the summer I lived in Israel where I met my husband Elliot, who happened to be from the Lehigh Valley. Now we live in the Lehigh Valley, we still have a strong connection to Israel and we’re sending our son to the Lehigh Valley Jewish Community Center so that he can start his education with strong Jewish values and a strong connection to Israel. And that’s my story that inspires me. To build connections with Israel, we were on the front line. We’ve helped send We’ve brought We’ve helped send 125+ LOCAL 120,000+ hundreds of 600,000+ YOUNG TEENS AND YOUNG JEWS LEHIGH VALLEY JEWISH ADULTS YOUNG ADULTS for a year in Israel JEWS on a 10-day trip to have signed up since through the Jewish to Israel on Israel through 2007 to experience Agency’s Masa Federation missions Birthright since 1999 Israel through our program since 2004 through the years VISIT Israel Savings Partnership bringing Israel and the Lehigh Valley together through our partnership with Yoav 4 #BeTheImpact ERIC My daughter came home one day and told us that she wanted to go to a Jewish day school. This was in the 9th grade. And we said OK and we sent her. And the experience for her has been life-changing. She has 5 embraced Jewish values, she has become more knowledgeable about the world, and for all the incredible growth and development she has experienced, the impact on our family has been immeasurable. We’ve all become more knowledgeable and my wife and I decided to make a trip to Israel as a result of my daughter getting excited for her own trip there. And I realized that I want these things to happen and it’s my responsibility to make them happen for both my family and for others as well and that’s why I choose to make an impact by supporting Federation’s annual campaign. To secure our Jewish future, we instilled Jewish values. We’ve sparked Jewish conversations at home for MORE THAN 600 CHILDREN in the Lehigh Valley through PJ Library since 2011 We make Jewish education A FAMILY AFFAIR through programs at local synagogues We support a quality Jewish and general studies education for PRE-K THROUGH 8TH GRADE at the Jewish Day School We’ve helped HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES remain connected to their Judaism and each other at the JCC 6 #BeTheImpact VALESKA I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela – where life for Jews has not always been easy – but I grew up surrounded by a very strong Jewish community and very strong Jewish values. What inspires me 7 is that I saw what my family and all the people around me did for a community and that’s why do what I do in this community. I think it’s very important to give back, I think it’s very important to be involved, especially at this time where things are not exactly very pretty around the world. So I think that’s my main inspiration – my community, my family, my strong values that I got from home. The world is an unstable place. We brought security. We brought We raised money for We brought community We hosted a forum on 40 LOCAL REPAIRS AND agencies together for a COMBATTING BDS COMMUNITY RESTORATION SECURITY for students and MEMBERS after destruction at the PREPAREDNESS their parents and day school students Mount Carmel Cemetery WORKSHOP to Philadelphia in March to stand against hate 8 #BeTheImpact ROBERTA Being a part of this community has been tremendously important and I think about what has inspired me the most, from the beginning, and I always remember a little tzedakah box in my 9 grandmother’s kitchen from early on. As a solicitor for Federation, the statement that solidified my confirmation and need to give more and to ask is the statement that said ‘one Jew is asking a second Jew to help a third Jew.’ And that is truly what tzedakah and Federation is all about. Millions of Jews find every day a struggle. We were a lifeline. We helped feed We helped We’ve provided We’ve helped over 125 FAMILIES 75 JEWISH TENS OF 20,000 ELDERLY PER MONTH OLDER ADULTS THOUSANDS AND CHILDREN here in the Lehigh in the Lehigh Valley of Holocaust survivors in survive winter in the Valley through the receive regular visits the U.S. —one of four of fomer Soviet Union with Jewish Family Service from JFS whom live in poverty— warm clothes, blanket food pantry with home health care, and heating assistance housing, nutrition and transportation services 10 #BeTheImpact KAREN We moved to the Lehigh Valley five years ago and we were quickly integrated into the Jewish community. Within weeks of living here, we were invited to a break fast, I was invited to join the 11 Maimonides Society and we were included in a friend’s Passover seder. It is where my children have also become involved – where my son has joined BBYO, my daughter has joined the junior choir at the synagogue and it is the community where my husband decided to become a Jew by choice. It is for all these reasons that we felt so deeply connected to this community and have wanted to give back. To build a welcoming community, we brought people together. We brought hundreds More than 200 We hosted We published of community volunteers joined COMMUNITY SHALOM LEHIGH members together for us for our EVENTS VALLEY JEWISH SUPER SUNDAY for Yom HaShoah, and distributed it in HERITAGE NIGHT COMMUNITY Yom Hazikaron and 60,000 copies of at the IronPigs MITZVAH DAY Yom Ha’atzmaut The Morning Call’s Indulge Magazine 12 In May, we brought 12 emerging leaders ages 27-35 on a nine-day trip to Israel. The cohort is continuing to participate in a leadership development program through the Federation and bringing what they learn to the Lehigh Valley Jewish community. Here, some of the participants reflect on their trip. JESSICA MIKE “It didn’t really hit me until I “This trip was special got back how much it really because I got to go with impacted me and how much people not only just my age, I feel like coming back from but also people who live in Israel and being a part of Is- my area that I can actually rael Next Dor, that Judaism come back to and reminisce has now jumped up in the and become life-long level of priorities of my life.” friends with after the trip.” 13 BEN RACHEL ALAN “Going to Israel was something I’ve always “Going on the trip with my husband Howie “With Israel Next Dor, we are part of a wanted to experience, but was never able was a very special experience.