UJAâ€™s Response To Poverty: â€œI Canâ€™t Go For Thatâ€

Local News

Written by Michele Justic

Thursday, 05 August 2010 11:21

Hall and Oates at UJA Federation of New Yorkâ€™s Summerfest.

On Tuesday, July 27, the UJA Federation of New York attracted over 1,200 supporters and raised over $1.4 million at its 20th Annual Summerfest Concert featuring Hall & Oates at the Theatre at Westbury. Jeff Gould, CEO of BRT Realty Trust and Vice President of Georgetown Partners Inc. was awarded with the Robert S. Boas Award. According to Rachel and Frank Zuckerbot, chairs of the UJA New Leadership Campaign, the eveningâ€™s contributions helped fund more than 20 beneficiary agencies on Long Island.

The Summerfest chairs, Jackie and Erik Gershwind and Joyce and Phil Sharfstein, as well as the many other planners can rest assured the attendees enjoyed a spectacular night. They wisely focused on making the event stylish and fun, beginning with a large tent with cocktails and buffet and a performance by the Nancy Atlas Project. Attendees dropped off the canned goods they had been asked to bring for distribution to those in need through Met Council on Jewish Poverty. Then the awards were presented, an inspirational video about UJA was played, and the main act took to the stage. Daryl Hall and John Oates rocked out with some of their most popular songs, including â€œManeater,â€ â€œOut of Touch,â€ and â€œI Canâ€™t Go For That,â€ and also took to the stage for two encores after seeing how the audience had connected with them, performing, â€œRich Girl,â€ â€œPrivate Eyes,â€ â€œYou Make My Dreams,â€ and many other favorites.

UJAâ€™s New Leadership Campaign has also become a fast favorite among influential young business leaders and philanthropists. They have helped provide scholarships for 6,500 impoverished children to attend camp, essential groceries to 55,000 low-income households, critical care and supplies to 800 children from impoverished Jewish families in Argentina, emergency cash assistance, medical care, and psychological counseling to more than 10,000 struggling Holocaust survivors in New York, trauma treatment to 52,000 Israeli schoolchildren to help them cope with recent rocket attacks, more than 2,000 backpacks to Long Island children in need, 168,000 impoverished elderly Jews in the FSA with basic food, medicine, and clothing, and innovative opportunities to strengthen Long Islandâ€™s 170 synagogues.

Some of the programs highlighted at the event include UJAâ€™s Connect to Care program to aid those affected by the recent economic downturn, Birthright Israel (the initiative to help young adults connect to their roots through a free trip to Israel), and a program for children with special needs. Locally, we are probably most familiar with the JCC of the Greater Five Towns, which has touched the lives of almost every resident of the communityâ€”of all ages, religious backgrounds, and financial statuses. Most recently, they opened a new kosher food pantry called Kol Ditzrich to help local families in need by providing nutritious, non-perishable kosher food products, such as canned fish, pasta, breakfast cereal, soup, and juices. Rina Shkolnik, executive director of the JCC of the Greater Five Towns stresses, â€œWe are calling upon the generosity of our neighbors throughout the Five Towns to help sustain this vital community resource, which has been a blessing to those struggling to put food on their table during these difficult times.â€ The pantry is located at 1010 Central Avenue in Woodmere. For more information on how you can help with the pantry, visit fivetownsjcc.org/foodpantry.htm or call 516-569-6733.

Other ways to get involved on Long Island include the Business and Professionals Division, Connect to Care, SYNERGY on Long Island to strengthen synagogue leadership and resources, and Connections, which is dedicated to providing young Jewish families with the resources and opportunities to strengthen their Jewish connections and ensure the Jewish identity of their children. Visit www.ujafedny.org/long-island to learn more about how you can help someone say, â€œYou Make My Dreams [Come True].â€