You are needed next week to help with Fundfest, the largest fundraising effort of our calendar year.  In just three hours of volunteering, you can get on the phones, connect with our fellow community members and ask them to contribute to the Federation’s Community Campaign,  supporting 10 local beneficiary agencies and their programs, our local synagogue religious schools, youth groups, Jewish camping, welfare needs in the Former Soviet Union, etc.  We will train you if you have never done this before to make you comfortable and proud to ask others to give. 

We already have about 200 people signed up so I can promise you that you will not be alone.  Being in a room with others from all over the Pittsburgh region is fun and inspiring. 

Fundfest and the Federation in general give you a chance to: “Do Good.  Well.”  To sign up or for more information, please click here.  Our campaign today sits at $6.2 Million, and with your help, you can give the boost to propel us closer to our goal of $13.35 Million. 

This past week, the Federation Foundation hit a milestone.  Due to both strong investment performance and additions to our Foundation, our corpus has now hit an all-time high of $170 Million.  This includes funds we invest for all ten of our beneficiary agencies as well as many synagogues in the region.  As we benchmark our returns against other Federations, we can be very proud of what our Investment Committee has accomplished. 

Finally, I wrote last week about the loss of our dear colleague and friend Harvey Sloan.  I want to make you all aware that the family has asked that donations be made to a fund in our Foundation that Harvey and Carol established for Federation staff development.  Please contact us if you need more information.  These dollars will allow us to grow the capacity and abilities of our incredible staff in perpetuity.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.  Go Pens!