Posts Tagged ‘Awards’
Over 125 attendees were present at Jewish Free Loan’s Annual Meeting in May. The evening began with a meaningful D’var Torah by board member, Rabbi Elana Kanter. It was followed by outgoing President, Ron Blau, reflecting on accomplishments over the past three years he has served as president of Jewish Free Loan. He mentioned an increase in named donor funds and legacy donors, and indicated the addition of 445 new donors. Social media promoting our organization has been fortified with the assistance of Graphique Communications Design, through a Facebook page and Jewish Free Loan blog. Ron concluded by expressing his appreciation to all our donors and legacy society members for sustaining Jewish Free Loan, as well as to the board members for their dedication to the mission of our organization.
The President’s Award was presented to the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix. The foundation has provided financial assistance to Jews in the Valley who have been hit extremely hard by the economic downturn. B’nai Tzedek youth has supported Jewish Free Loan to financially strengthen local Jewish families with dignity and compassion. The Jewish Community Foundation has also provided essential capacity and capability training programs through its Jewish Technical Assistance Center (JTAC). Naomi Goodell, immediate past Chair and Stu Turgel, President, accepted the award.
David Senkfor, chair of the Board Development and Nominations Committee, announced the officers for the coming year: President, Fred Wabnik, Executive Vice President, Barrett Silver, Vice Presidents, Eric Rinestone and Ira Shapiro, Secretary, SaraRuth Rossow, Treasurer, Larry Moffitt and Ron Blau, immediate past President. He also acknowledged new board members, Seema Liston and Suzanne Parelman.
Nathan Hirsch, a recent education loan recipient, described how the loan allowed him to pursue his current profession as a local chef. New board member, Sharon Briskman, passionately expressed why the board of Jewish Free Loan appealed to her and why she feels the mission of Jewish Free Loan is uniquely vital in the community.
The one-hour meeting concluded with Tina Sheinbein, Executive Director, expressing her appreciation to the staff and board. She also mentioned that Phoenix will be hosting the International Association of Hebrew Free Loans Conference in 2012. Tina announced two new programs being initiated inthe fall: a special tzedakah box campaign titled ‘Yes I Can’, as well as a four-part business seminar targeting small business owners. She reported that we increased the number of loans made in our fiscal year to 93 from 84 of the prior year, with a total of $183,957 in loans. She continued by indicating that the write off rate was only 1%, which means 48 loans were paid in full this past year. Finally, she thanked outgoing board members, Kay Abramsohn and Marvin Stein, as well as Gerald Webner and Dr. Ethan Bindelglas who recently co-chaired the Advisory Council.
Tina presented outgoing President, Ron Blau, a framed Judaic art piece related to Tikkun Olam. Ron will continue on the board co-chairing along side Joel Shapiro on the Tikkun Olam Community Campaign.
Our board members for 2011-2012 are Blaise Biller, Ron Blau, Paul Blum, Sharon Briskman, Rabbi Elana Kanter, Lisa Lerner, Seema Liston, Larry Moffitt, Suanne Neuman, Suzanne Parelman, Eric Rinestone, SaraRuth Rossow, Al Rubinow, Ellen Sacks, David Senkfor, Ira Shapiro, Joel Shapiro, Barrett Silver, Dr. David Tessler, Howard Treshansky, Fred Wabnik, and Stacie Wittenberg.
Emeriti: Kay Abramsohn, Harry Adler, Dr. Ethan Bindelglas, Helen Handler, Al Honig, Marvin Stein, Gerald Webner, and Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
This has been the season in Hollywood of the Academy Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, MTV Awards and many more. Jewish Free Loan would like to suggest an award to all the guarantors who have made our loans possible to borrowers throughout our 60 years in the Valley. These gracious guarantors have been the unsung heroes of Jewish Free Loan. They have completed forms, accompanied our borrowers to their interviews, and understood that if for any reason a borrower should default on a loan, they would assume the responsibility for the loan. What mensches these individuals must be to say, “yes, I will be a guarantor for you!”
I would imagine they have heard a thank you from the borrower they have helped. As a community we want to say our very own “thank you!” Because of your generous spirit, another human being was able to receive a hand up at a time of need. You have helped provide that assistance and we are very grateful. We admire you for taking the risk with an open and caring heart. We salute you!
