Be Part of theGreater Good

2015 Annual Campaign

In just three generations we helped transform the world. Helped found and build a nation. Freed more than a million Soviet Jews. Saved ancient communities and brought them to Israel.

We are the safety net that enables Jews to fulfill our obligation to take care of each other. We are the vibrant hub that celebrates Jewish life, and we nurture the Jewish community today and for the future.

Let’s change the world together.

Challenges evolve.So do our solutions.

J-Campers at the Dwares JCC show their support for Israel

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

You have the power to make a difference in the world. Serve a hot meal to a poor child in a village in Ukraine. Deliver medicine to a fragile Holocaust survivor in Israel. Build a roof over the heads of a homeless family. Give a local teenager her first Israel experience. When you connect with the Jewish Alliance, you put the Jewish values of compassion, generosity and responsibility into action.

Your gift touches Jewish lives—helping vulnerable people, responding to life and death emergencies, inspiring Jewish life and learning, and assuring our Jewish future.

Your caring joins with others.

March of the Living New England Delegation 2014

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

Nourishing the Jewish soul:Meet Roberta

“Coming to the Kosher Meal site is the highlight of my week,” says Roberta Fox, who drives to the Jewish Alliance three times a week to supplement her meager food stamps. “My food stamps only last for two weeks, so I rely on these meals to provide nourishment for my body, but also my Jewish soul,” she explains.

Roberta was a teacher for 30 years, but has been unable to find work because of her age. Instead, she is forced to rely on the Kosher Food Pantry during holidays, and Jewish Family Service (JFS) emergency funds to pay her bills.

Neal Drobnis, Coordinator of Kosher Nutrition at Jewish Family Service (JFS), who runs the meal site, planned a 50th anniversary party for Roberta and

her husband, Sumner because they did not have the money themselves to pay for a celebration. “My husband calls Neal my boyfriend,” Roberta says with a twinkle in her eye. “I don’t know what I would do without him.”

The Jewish Alliance helps Roberta and more than 200 seniors in our community who meet friends every day at the kosher Senior Café coordinated by JFS. They share a meal, a memory, and a laugh, keeping their minds sharp with group activities, fitness, and other support services when needed. “This is a celebration of their lives and they are family to each other,” Neal said. “I am honored to work with them.”

“I would not be alive without the Rhode Island Jewish community.”

Roberta Fox enjoys a meal at JFS’s Senior Café

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

When one of us is in trouble, all of us feel the pain.

The Alliance pledges not to let anyone fall on our watch, and we rely on each other to uphold that pledge. We help thousands of people who are living on the edge.

Young, jobless parents who need help putting food on the table. Grandparents who deserve to live out their lives with dignity. People with disabilities who face barriers to living full lives. When an individual or family needs help, they can turn to the Alliance or one of our partner agencies. Through food banks, cash grants, job training, legal services and crisis intervention, we give a hand to anyone who needs it—including many who never imagined they’d need help, until they faced unemployment, illness, or aging.

Volunteers connect people with the sevices they need

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

Living on the edge:Meet Aaron and Stacey

Research shows that 2% of Jewish households in the Alliance service area fall below the federal poverty guidelines. Another 18% are living near poverty, while 30% are defined as economically vulnerable. This means half of the Jewish households in communities served by the Alliance face economic difficulties.

The financial stability of these households can change month to month and even modest, unexpected expenses or loss of hours at work can catapult a family earning a median income into hardship and the need for external assistance.

Reaching out to and raising funds for those facing economic insecurity, be it poverty, near poverty, or economic vulnerability, is a critical charge for the Alliance and the Jewish community.

Aaron and Stacey live in a modest home with their two children. They cannot afford synagogue dues this year because Aaron has been out of work for 10 months. They are embarrassed to ask for abatement, so they have chosen to skip this year and “hope things get better once Aaron finds a job.”

“Our income is very low and we’re just not able to make ends meet.” Stacey, a stay-at-home mom, would love to get back into the workforce, but she needs advice, coaching and connections.

“I used to be the one who helped others; now I need the help.”

Aaron and Stacey of Warwick, RI

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

Our community stretches across the world.

When Jews around the world need our help, we don’t let borders get in our way. Years of financial troubles have left thousands in desperate need. The poorest Jews around the world have no one to turn to but us.

We support agencies that deliver food and medicine along with self-respect and a connection to a caring, global Jewish community.

Thousands of poor families, many immigrants, know their children will have a brighter future thanks to our programs.

In places where Jews haven’t shared a Sabbath in decades, the Alliance is rekindling Jewish life.

Students at the Jewish Day School in Athens, Greece

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

Our global impact:Meet Gadi

supportive of his fellow participants, and proud to speak of the “home” he’s made for himself.

“This place has helped me gain confidence and learn more about myself, which I know will also help my family and my community. I am grateful for the support my mentor gives me and I know the connections and friends I’ve made at Ben Yakir will be lifelong ones because they’ve become my family, too.”

Gadi is a 14-year-old boy from southern Israel being raised by his elderly grandparents. They live in a small apartment with two of Gadi’s uncles and survive on the meager social security funds they receive from the government. When Gadi first arrived at Ben Yakir Youth Village, an alternative boarding school, Gadi was shy and anxious about leaving his family and living in new surroundings.

During his orientation at the Youth Village, Gadi’s counselor asked him about his interests and hobbies. Gadi could not articulate a particular pastime he liked because he had never been exposed to any. Together, Gadi and his counselor determined that he would try choir, and today, Gadi has found his voice. He is no longer the reserved, nervous boy who arrived at the Youth Village. He is now sure of himself,

Gadi (right), with his friend Hyram at Ben Yakir Youth Village

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

Connect with the rhythm of Jewish life.

Cost should not be a barrier to Jewish life. We support institutions that shape and strengthen Jewish identity—camps, schools, Hillel, and leadership experiences to name a few. Programs like PJ Library and Birthright Israel connect families and young people with Jewish ideas and values. In countries around the world, young Jews are hungry to know more about their heritage. We are finding new ways to prepare them to be the next generation of leaders. New programs bring young Jews together from Israel and around the world to study, work on service projects, and celebrate Jewish identities.

In endless ways, the Alliance is helping to ensure that our culture lives on. Refashioned for a new generation.

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

Students from URI Hillel

Help us carry our legacy into the future.

The Jewish Alliance has been supporting Jewish life for nearly 70 years. Today there’s still vital work to do. And we need your support.

Contribute to the Annual Campaign and you’re helping to care for our entire Jewish community—at home, in Israel, and around the world.

To learn more or to donate today, visit us at jewishallianceri.org or call 401.421.4111.

Be part of our vibrant and thriving Jewish community by donating to the Annual Campaign.

jewishallianceri.org Be part of the greater good.

Be part of the greater good.

401 Elmgrove Avenue | Providence, RI 02906401.421.4111 | jewishallianceri.org

We partner with the following agencies to meet community needs:American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)

Avnei DerechBoard of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island

Brown RISD HillelCamp JORI

Chabad of BarringtonChabad of West Bay

Ethiopian National ProjectFoundation for Jewish Camp

Friends of the IDFHaifa Rape Crisis Center

Holocaust Education Resource Center of Rhode IslandJewish Agency for Israel

Jewish Community Day School of Rhode IslandJewish Family ServiceJewish Seniors Agency

New England Rabbinical CollegeProvidence Hebrew Day School

RI Jewish Committee on Scouting, BSASouth County Hebrew School

URI HillelVestnik of Rhode Island

World ORT

Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode IslandSharon Gaines, Board Chair

Mitzi Berkelhammer, Vice Chair of Philanthropy

Jewish Federation FoundationJay Rosenstein, Board Chair

Mindy Wachtenheim, Vice Chair

Jewish Alliance Senior Management TeamJeffrey K. Savit, President & CEO

Trine Lustig, Vice President of PhilanthropyMinna Ellison, Senior Vice President Community Planning and Programming

Manuel daRosa, Chief Financial OfficerDaniel Hamel, Chief Operations Officer

Gail Putnam, Executive Assistant/Office Manager

Financial Resource Development TeamTrine Lustig, Vice President of PhilanthropyHillary Schulman, Development Associate

Michele Gallagher, Senior Campaign Operations ManagerDanielle Germanowski, Endowment Operations Manager

Jennifer Zwirn, Planning and Endowment