Metro Briefs December 31

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee will hold a program on “Palestinians and the Peace Process” featuring Grant Rumley, research analyst, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at the Heinz 57 Center, The Atrium, 339 Sixth Ave. A cocktail reception will begin at 6:30 p.m.; the program begins at 7:30 p.m.

The reception and program are open to AIPAC Club members who donate $1,800 or more annually and/or 2016 Policy Conference delegates. Reservations are required; dietary laws will be observed. RSVP by contacting Michael Yaffe, Pittsburgh director, at 410-223-4190 or myaffe@aipac.org.

The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh has selected eight organizations to fund for programs that address the needs of women and girls.  The recipients, approved by the JWF trustees, are receiving a total of $47,500.  The Foundation will also continue funding its signature project, The Center for Women, in collaboration with the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section. The total grant to the Center for Women over three years is $225,000.

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Co-Chairs Marsha D. Marcus and Fern G. Schwartz, along with the grant-making leadership Carolyn Hess Abraham, Lauren Goldblum, Joan Gurrentz, Lori Guttman, Ruth Schachter and Sally Rock led the foundation through its grant-making process.

The 2015 grantees and their projects are:

Bethlehem Haven ($7,500), Housing Intervention Program. This is the second year JWF has funded this program.

Centennial Fund for a Jewish Future ($10,000), benefiting the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh; year two of a five-year, $50,000 commitment

Center for Women, additional three-year commitment ($225,000)

Gwen’s Girls ($5,000), Making Positive Life Choices

Homeless Children’s Education Fund ($7,000), Mom & Me: Parent Engagement

Jewish Association on Aging ($5,000), resident dining

Organization for Resolution of Agunot ($5,500), Pittsburgh Agunah Prevention Initiative

 Yeshiva Girls School ($10,000), ensuring the financial independence of Pittsburgh’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish women through a STEM and writing program

Visit jwfpgh.org for more information about the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s SteelTree Fund will give three projects a total of $8,400 in second-round 2015-16 funding. The projects aim to engage young Jews in Judaism through a teen project, a Jewish comedy night and Shabbat programming.

The SteelTree Fund, which combines support from anonymous private donors with support from the Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation, enables SteelTree’s young adult board members to make a collective impact by designating grants.

The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) highlighted this fund as one of the most innovative engagement programs in the nation at a “FEDovations” panel at the JFNA General Assembly in Washington, D.C., in November 2015.

During the SteelTree Fund’s first two years, SteelTree participation attracted nine new donors to Federation’s annual campaign. The 23 SteelTree members’ combined contributions to the 2015 annual campaign totaled more than $43,000.  

The three organizations to receive second-round SteelTree Fund grants are the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Emma Kaufmann Camp (EKC), Chabad of South Hills and Moishe House.

The grant to EKC will fund the second year of EKC’s teen mitzvah program, which engages Jewish teens, as a group, in a volunteer service activity. A grant to Chabad of South Hills will help bring young Jews together for a night of Jewish-themed comedy. Moishe House, a communal meeting place for Jewish young adults in Pittsburgh, will receive funding to host a visit to a local synagogue and then a meal at Moishe House.

The first round of 2015-16 SteelTree grants, announced in October, funded Jewish discussion groups for teens, service to the elderly, Holocaust documentation and Jewish music.

Two more rounds of funding this fiscal year will offer additional opportunities for organizations to apply for grants. Application deadlines for each round, respectively, are Feb. 9 and April 15.

Contact Emily Richman, associate director of development operations, at 412-681-8000 or erichman@jfedpgh.org. Grant application information can also be found online at jfedpgh.org/steeltree.