Since launching in September, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Life & Legacy program has created new levels of excitement and engagement within the Tidewater Jewish community. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Life & Legacy program is a four-year initiative that assists communities through partnerships with Jewish Federations and Foundations, to promote after-lifetime giving to benefit local Jewish day schools, synagogues, social service organizations and other Jewish entities.
The program will grant Tidewater Jewish Foundation matching funds from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation up to $100,000 per year to provide participating local organizations unrestricted incentive grants based on meeting legacy commitment benchmarks. TJF is partnering with 10 local Jewish organizations on the initiative: Congregation Beth El, Beth Sholom Village, Chabad of Tidewater, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater & Strelitz Early Childhood Education Center, Simon Family JCC, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, Ohef Sholom Temple, Temple Emanuel, Toras Chaim and the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
Each organization has written a thorough Legacy Plan, intended to serve as a guide to help each agency plan and decide what will work for their community. As part of this process, each team, comprised of dedicated staff and volunteers, created a Case Statement. The Case Statements remind why each agency and organization is unique, and the difference they each make in the Tidewater Jewish community. This is the heart of what Life & Legacy seeks to accomplish—reinforcing to the broader community that each of these agencies is an essential community resource, now and for future generations.
Community consultants from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation will return to Tidewater for a training session, The Legacy Conversation, on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The program officially kicks off Year 1 in January, and teams are excited to begin having conversations with community members about assuring Jewish tomorrows in Tidewater.
For information about how to help secure the future of the Tidewater Jewish community, contact Amy Weinstein, director of development, at 757-965-6105 or aweinstein@ujft.org. Visit www.JewishVA.org/TJF.
– Amy Weinstein