Metro Briefs December 16

Temple David will hold a Chanukah Bazaar on Sunday, Dec. 18 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 4415 Northern Pike in Monroeville. The event will include brisket sliders, matzah ball soup and potato latkes. Judaica, Chanukah supplies and a variety of vendors will be available. Family and friends are invited.

AARP Squirrel Hill Chapter 3354 will hold its monthly meeting and annual holiday party on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. at New Light Congregation, 1700 Beechwood Blvd. All are invited to join the meeting and festivities. Contact Ileen Portnoy at 412-683-7985 for more information.

Wigle and Repair the World will hold a Chanukah Party on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Repair the World Workshop, 6022 Broad Street in East Liberty.

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In addition to dreidel and other Chanukah activities, each $25 ticket includes a customizable cocktail from the cocktail demo bar, welcome cocktail, holiday toast, catered Chinese food spread and Wigle spirit sampling.

Five dollars of every Wigle bottle sold at the event will go toward school supplies for underserved children. Visit werepair.org/our-local-work/our-cities/pittsburgh/ for more information.

Chabad of the South Hills will hold its annual Chanukah Toy Drive for hospitalized and underprivileged children until Dec. 23. New unwrapped toys can be dropped off at Chabad at 1701 McFarland Road Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. or at the Chanukah Pop up Shop at the Galleria Mall, on the lower level near Starbucks, Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact 412-278-2658 or barb@chabadsh.com for more information.

Jewish Residential Services will hold its Chanukah open house on Wednesday, Dec. 28 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Howard Levin Clubhouse, 2621 Murray Ave. The event will include the menorah lighting, hors d’oevres and music by Klezlectric. Dietary laws will be observed. RSVP by Dec. 20 and make arrangements for special accommodations at 412-325-0039 or info@jrspgh.org.

Chabad of Western Pennsylvania and Bnai Emunoh Chabad have partnered with The Waterfront to celebrate Chanukah under the Homestead Grays Bridge.

The annual Menorah Parade, sponsored by Chabad of Pittsburgh and Yeshiva Schools and featuring nearly 100 vehicles adorned with menorahs, will begin on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 4:45 p.m. in front of Rodef Shalom in Shadyside and will proceed through Squirrel Hill and Shadyside until eventually arriving at The Waterfront for the grand menorah lighting at 5:45 p.m.

The Chanukah Festival and Concert, which will end at 9 p.m., is being co-sponsored by Yeshiva Schools, Hillel Academy and Community Day School, as well as the Friendship Circle, Shalom Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill Food Pantry and the Chabad centers of the greater Pittsburgh area.

The event is free and open to the public. Contact info@Chabadpgh.com for more information.

Applications for need-based college scholarships for the 2017-2018 school year are available from the Central Scholarship & Loan Referral Service (CSLRS) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Jewish Family & Children’s Service administers this program.

The funds are made available through the generosity of families who have established endowments through the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Community Center, National Council of Jewish Women, Jewish Women International of Pittsburgh (formerly B’nai B’rith Women), The Pittsburgh Foundation and Rodef Shalom Congregation.

All scholarships are distributed on the basis of demonstrated financial need. Depending on the scholarship fund, other factors such as academic achievement, field of study, school attending, and Jewish and general community involvement will also be considered. In addition, the applicant must be Jewish, reside in Allegheny, Westmoreland, Beaver, Butler or Washington County for at least two years, and need financial assistance to attend an accredited institution of higher education as either an undergraduate or graduate student.

The CSLRS online application is available at centralscholarship.org. All applications are due Feb. 9, 2017. First-time applicants must be interviewed. All applications should be submitted as early as possible to ensure processing.

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) board of trustees approved $1,518,000 in grants, including grants to design and create a virtual museum to the future of health care, fund planning activities for a potential new senior living-learning community at Chatham University, serve the needs of the Jewish community through a block grant to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and support the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Impact Fund.

JHF has approved a three-year, $500,000 grant to design and create the Museum to the Future (MTTF), which will be an online, evolving space for health care experts, technologists, futurists, policymakers, community leaders, students and other stakeholders to learn about cutting-edge health care innovations, spread best practices and collaborate on new breakthroughs.

JHF will collaborate with the Lown Institute on a framing paper and will convene communitywide planning sessions for the MTTF. The Foundation will also re-establish its Quality Improvement meets Innovation Technology (QI2T) Fellowship, which will provide an opportunity for multidisciplinary graduate students to accelerate change.

JHF has approved a $50,000 planning grant to Chatham University to determine the feasibility of creating a new living-learning community for seniors. The initiative would build on Chatham’s signature programs related to physical health and wellness, the environment and sustainability. This planning grant furthers the goals of JHF’s overall Senior Connections initiative. Senior Connections is a multipronged effort to strengthen an umbrella of services available for seniors to live safe and satisfying lives, including adequate transportation and housing, exercise and recreational opportunities, geriatric-friendly health care and caregiver supports.

Since its founding in 1990, JHF has provided an annual block grant to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, which is distributed to beneficiary agencies to address the health needs of the Jewish community. JHF’s $900,000 grant, which benefits the Jewish Association on Aging, the Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Riverview Towers and Jewish Residential Services, represents 60 percent of the $1.5 million distributed annually by the Federation to the local community for human service needs. The block grant is part of JHF’s more than $2.7 million in total funding support provided to the local Jewish community in 2016.

The United Way provides support to organizations that JHF funds in both the Jewish and general communities. In recognition of the growing need for human services, greater competition for philanthropic dollars and the increased restriction of contributions to specific organizations, JHF has approved an annual grant to the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania every year since 1999.

JHF’s $68,000 contribution will be used in support of the United Way’s Impact Fund, which strengthens the core programs, in both the Jewish and general communities, of the United Way’s partner agencies and advances new initiatives to meet critical community needs.

The United Way and JHF have also partnered on the national enrollment campaign in support of the Affordable Care Act, as well as the planning processes to enhance the health and well-being of local seniors, caregivers and disabled community members.

Visit jhf.org for more information.