Make and pay your gift by December 31 to get your 2021 charitable tax deduction
As the 2021 calendar year draws to a close, with Hanukkah behind us…and with a winter of “unknowns” fast approaching, now is the time to gather with friends and community members to support the extraordinary Jewish community that we love and call home.
Many reasons exist to support the Community Campaign of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. On any given day, one need only sit for a while in the Cardo of the Sandler Family Campus to see the faces of those whose lives are richer, better, and more complete because of the work that takes place on the campus.
Whether marveling at the students from the Strelitz International Academy traipsing across the tiles, moving from the gym to school or from the school to the pool (wrapped in towels and excited for swim lessons); or whether it’s a group of senior adults sitting at a table enjoying a Cardo Café lunch while chatting with friends after chair yoga; or maybe it’s the BBYO teens practicing their songs for an upcoming convention or planning a mitzvah project. Sit long enough and you might see community leaders race into the building for a meeting where they’ll discuss the challenges we face and how to address them; or a group of ladies heading in for “Women’s Only” Swim night.
These diverse individuals and various activities comprise the fabric of our Jewish community. These folks and others are direct beneficiaries of the work of the Community Campaign. And they’re just the ones we see. Many of the beneficiaries, however, we’ll never know. Some live in the impoverished vestiges of once flourishing Jewish communities throughout Eastern Europe; others are hunkered down in war zones in Ukraine; and still others struggle to find their footing as new Israelis. They too, are beneficiaries of the UJFT’s Community Campaign.
In a day when antisemitism is on the rise and growing more virulent each day, the Community Campaign protects the Tidewater Jewish community with increased security measures, security training, and subject-matter experts to tell us how to better protect ourselves and what actions to take to tell our elected officials: “Never again!”
There are many reasons to give. We may not even recognize the benefits we receive, living as we do, in a strong, vibrant, Jewish community supported by the UJFT Community Campaign. Many reasons to give, and one especially great vehicle for strengthening the entire community.
If you’d like to support the Jewish community through the UJFT Community Campaign and wish to receive a tax deduction in the 2021 year, you will need to make AND pay your pledge or donation by December 31 of this year. For more information about the Community Campaign, contact Amy Zelenka, chief development officer at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater at 757-965-6139 or azelenka@ujft.org.