Philanthropy Updates

December 2021

Donations have been approved from the Scholarship Committee’s recommendations for Jewish Family & Children Service Minneapolis, for an additional $5000 (a total of $10,000) and a donation of $10,000 for Jewish Family Service, St. Paul. The donations are used for scholarships to further educational goals that will lead to improved employment opportunities. Both agencies appreciate the generosity of our members, along with those who work hard to raise funds through our many events. Below are a few examples of clients who benefit from JFS donations. Also approved was a $300 contribution to the B’Yhad Program of JFS St. Paul. This is similar to the Hag Samaech Program of the JFCS Minneapolis where gifts are given to needy families at Chanukah.

• “Debra” is a 32-year-old mother of two young children who doesn’t have a great deal of education and works hard as a Personal Care Assistant at one of our local assisted living facilities. People with this certification are in high demand, but the pay scale is very low, and she is barely able to pay her bills. Like many of our clients, Debra is one minor emergency from becoming unemployed and homeless. She contacted JFS because a family member read one of our newsletters, noting we have an employment program and might have training dollars available. Debra had been doing research about profes-sions that pay better, but don’t require advanced degrees, and she became interested in being a phlebotomist. We found a six-month class that ends with people taking the national examination on their final day of class. Debra is in the process of applying for a BOND scholarship to take the class in the first quarter of 2022, and expects to earn over $17 per hour after getting her certification. She’s excited to start the training and is reading everything she can about the ins and outs of the profession.

• “Jenna” is a long-time Jewish resident of St. Paul. She had successfully pursued her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and settled back in St. Paul where she and her husband bought a home and raised a family. She bounced around somewhat in her 18-year professional career, and was tiring of the contracting circuit, and her current job had become dry and repetitive. She yearned to return to the kinds of higher level, more challenging, more creative roles that her academic training and earlier career experiences had offered. Our Employment Specialist began weekly Zoom meetings with Jenna to help identify and re-define some more satisfying, focused, highly achievable roles she could move into immediately to put her back on track with her longed-for career. Nancy helped her polish the mar-keting effectiveness of her resumes, cover letters, and Linked In profile to help her focus on the right details in language and visual formats to highlight her strengths, transferrable skills, and solid achievements. She was coached on interviewing prep and practice, pay negotiation, networking techniques, and other soft skills that contribute to the effectiveness of Jenna’s ongoing communications with recruiters and prospective employers. Things continue to move forward for Jenna, who is interviewing for several desirable new positions now.

July 10, 2020 – BOND presents $10,000 to JFCS for Scholarships