Honorees Nancy and Stu Mellan (Damion Alexander)
On Nov. 17, the Jewish Federation of Arizona/Jewish Community Foundation held its most ambitious event of the program year, bringing the community together for a drive-in event at Park Place Mall and online to celebrate Stuart Mellan, former JFSA president and CEO, and his wife, Nancy, for 25 years… Read more »
Finalists from Social Venture Partner Tucson’s Fast Pitch 2017 celebrate on stage at the main event. (L-R) Danielle Figeuroa of Youth on Their Own, Liz Hernandez of Project Safe Place at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, Lisa Shipek of Watershed Management Group, Amalia Luxardo of The Florence Project, Sean Cronin of Stories That Soar! at Literacy Connects, L’Don Sawyer of St. Luke’s Home, and Jennifer Moore of Abbie School (Social Venture Partners Tucson)
The Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona are collaborating with Social Venture Partners Tucson to grow and advance its Fast Pitch program, which helps local nonprofits raise funds, boost awareness, and build their capacity. In Fast Pitch, which debuted locally in 2015, SVP staff and volunteers… Read more »
Laura McKee has been hired as executive assistant to the CEO of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. McKee began her career with an associate’s degree as a legal assistant from Pima Community College and worked as a legal secretary while earning her bachelor’s degree… Read more »
Stuart Mellan
Contemplative, compassionate, collaborative: these are some of the words friends and colleagues use to describe Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, who is retiring at the end of this month after more than a quarter century leading the organization. The coronavirus pandemic and… Read more »
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona together with local families created a pandemic relief fund to provide resources to help the community during these challenging times. To date, more than $300,000 has been raised for pandemic relief efforts. The… Read more »
Lindsey Baker
Lindsey Baker returns to her hometown on May 1 to accept the inaugural chief operating officer position for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation. “Creating a sustainable, single-chief executive model is what we have been working toward,” says Graham Hoffman, JCF president and CEO,… Read more »
Charles Plotkin, 87, former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, died July 27, 2019. Mr. Plotkin was born in the Bronx, New York, to Ethel and Abraham “Arthur” Plotkin. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, earned a Bachelor of Arts from the City College… Read more »
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is accepting applications for scholarships to Jewish overnight summer camps for the summer of 2019. The need-based scholarship is funded by the Mo and Frances Beren Family Scholarship Fund and the Loebl Family Scholarship Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.… Read more »
Weintraub Israel 2018 multifaith mission group in the Old City of Jerusalem, Oct. 20. Front row (L-R): Ricki Shore, Mary Cochran, Jill Feldhausen, Dawn Gunter, Oshrat Barel, Michael Solan, Susan McMahon, Debe Campbell, Steve Wool, Jarrod Rulney (University of Arizona graduate student at Hebrew University), Gil Alvidrez; middle row: Andrea Crane, Debby Shore, Sara Ross, Bonnie Shore-Dombrowski, Dina Rosengarten, Grace Hartman, Theresa Dulgov, Florence Solan, Gayle Marrett, Pam Sorock, Michele Canney, Jacquelyn Feller, Ron Feller, Wendy Weinberg; back row: Harry Crane, Janice Brundage, Robert Wolk, Marshall Humphrey, Richard Hartman, Muki Jankelowitz (tour educator), Jeff Weinberg, Britt Feldhausen, David Zeinfeld, Lawrence Kinet, Todd Rockoff, Marsha Kinet, Jim Dever, Vicky Lunday, Michelle Kroeger, Richard Canney. (courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)
Weintraub Israel Center hosted its second annual multifaith mission to Israel in mid-October. A group of 43 participated in the nine-day journey from Tucson to Tel Aviv and around the nation’s interior. “We believe the most effective way to fulfill our mission to build living bridges is for participants… Read more »
Bat-Galim Shaer The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will kick off its 2019 Community Campaign by hosting three summits on Nov. 13 and 14. Bat-Galim Shaer, the mother of one of three Israeli teens kidnapped and murdered in 2014, will speak on “One People, One Heart: The Strength of the Jewish… Read more »
Updated 11.12.18: This event has been cancelled. Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy will host a Mystery Mitzvah Morning for newcomers and longtime residents on Sunday, Nov. 18, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. The event will begin with a light breakfast at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish… Read more »
A crowd of more than 1,200 turned out for the vigil at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Monday, Oct. 29. Eleven candles on the stage were lit to honor the people killed in the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 27. Standing on the stage, from left, are Rabbis Robert Eisen, Samuel M. Cohon, Avraham Alpert, Ruven Barkan, Helen Cohn and Batsheva Appel, and cantorial soloists Marjorie Hochberg, Diana Povolotskaya and Nichole Chorny. (Steven Braun)
Prayers for peace, kindness and love, for a better world for ourselves and our children, rang out at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Monday night, as more than 1,200 people of all faiths came together for a candlelight vigil in memory of the 11 Jews killed in an attack… Read more »
Congregation Bet Shalom members work on the pollinator garden for the Midbar Project. Later project development will include beehives, gardens, and chickens for lessons about desert and Biblical gardening traditions. (Courtesy Congregation Bet Shalom)
Local congregations are enhancing youth and family education programs while increasing inter-synagogue collaboration to enrich Tucson Jewish life. Participants credit expanded funding from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona for this boon. “The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has always allocated grant money to synagogues, but additional funding through… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center is holding a September promotion, “State of the Heart Community.” All new members who join in September can direct half of their first month’s dues to one of three charities: Ben’s Bells, Literacy Connects, and Youth on Their Own. For more information, visit www.tucsonjcc.org/heart.… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish community will hold its annual Project Isaiah food drive benefiting the Community Food Bank from Aug. 24-Sept.20. The project, timed to coincide with the High Holy Days, is named for the Prophet Isaiah. When asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, he responded, “Is it not… Read more »
Leslie Glaze Leslie Glaze, Ph.D., furthers the critical work of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona in both traditional and novel ways. That’s why the selection committee tapped her as the recipient of the JFSA’s 2018 Special Recognition Award. She will be honored next week at the 2018 Jewish Community Awards… Read more »
The annual local leaders’ forum breakfast will be held on Friday, April 20, addressing “How does our community respond to sexual violence?” The discussion with local leaders is grounded in the #MeToo movement in Tucson, says Jewish History Museum program coordinator Jamie Luria. Panelists will include April Ignacio, Indivisible… Read more »
The Israel Center has surpassed all our expectations, in terms of creating a connection between Tucsonans and Israel,” says Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona President and CEO Stuart Mellan. The Israel Center began as a way to bring the cultural richness of Israel to Arizona and engage the local… Read more »
OSHRAT BAREL, the Weintraub Israel Center’s first woman director and its sixth shlicha (emissary from Israel) completes her transition this month to vice president of the JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA’s community engagement department. The new department will facilitate collaboration among three existing program areas: the Jewish Community Relations… Read more »
Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona President and CEO Stuart Mellan and Jewish Community Foundation President and CEO Tracy Salkowitz at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy Oct. 1. (Martha Lochert Photography)
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and Jewish Community Foundation will hold a ribbon-cutting celebration of their new home, the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy, 3718 E. River Road, on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. The open-house event will include food, music, remarks by Tucson… Read more »
