Posts Tagged ‘Legacy’
“The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will outlast you.” This statement is from a post titled What Will Your Legacy Be on the Beauty Brains and Beyond blog. Its focus is based on the 100 things you should do before you die. This statement particularly caught my attention because it personifies what Jewish Free Loan is all about.
The individuals who created Jewish Free Loan over 60 years ago knew when they initiated the organization that they were indeed creating something that would outlast them, and so it has. As those of us currently involved in the organization know, it will also outlast us as well. It is also the desire of our donors, who contribute the funds that make up our loans, that those funds will keep on contributing to others and eventually outlast them. That is why we pride ourselves on being the ‘greenest’ of philanthropies.
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are coming up soon. These are excellent times to honor a mother or father with a gift in the form of a JFL tribute card containing a personalized message. With something as unique as a tribute card, you are also creating something that will outlast you and the recipient. That is something that is worth making part of your legacy!
On Sunday evening, I had an impromptu conversation with a community leader and friend. Like most people living here, she moved here many years ago from another community. When she asked, “Where do you work?” I replied, “Jewish Free Loan.” This leader surprised me when she shared that as a young girl, she recalled that her father sat on the Hebrew Free Loan board in their community in Ohio. “It was the one agency that had such importance to my dad. I recall him going to their meetings and feeling very devoted to the vital services they provided members of our Jewish community.”
That was a legacy and a memory that her father established in their home. That member’s daughter certainly carried that torch of involvement to incredible heights in this community. She has been given the highest award of the Jewish Federation, the Medal of Honor along with many other recognitions. Through the years she has served with excellence, in both secular and Jewish board organizations.
Thank you Judy Ackerman. Sharing this meaningful story of how a father passed on an honorable name to his daughter. We honor you for carrying that mitzvah forward ten-fold.
