By Joel Magalnick, Editor, The Jewish Sound
On Nov. 28, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle announced that 14 organizations would receive nearly $64,000 to help build programs for our local Jewish community.
The Federation’s Ignition grant program offers up to $5,000 for pilot or one-time projects that help support the growth of the local Jewish community.
The 17 grants awarded this year range from cultural to educational to historical to preparatory. Hebrew Hoops, a two-year-old Jewish sports camp in Bellevue, received $1,300 to hold a Mini-Maccabee camp, for example. JTNews received $2,375 to help produce its “Letters to the Editor” performance of its 90 years in print as another.
Others help to fill a void in our community that might not otherwise be supported. Several, like the Friendship Circle’s Cooking Circle, adaptive aquatics training at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, and emergency preparedness education for Jewish Family Service, work with community members with special needs.
The Holocaust Center for Humanity received $4,000 to collect and archive personal histories from the Russian community of Holocaust survivors that exists in the area.
“This is a story that has not been told, has not been captured, especially in our community,” Dee Simon, the Holocaust Center’s executive director, told JTNews. “We thought this was a perfect opportunity to really do something different that hasn’t been done before, and certainly there’s an area of need.”
Those funds will cover a videographer, translators, digitizing, and research on these survivors.
“They’re very diverse stories,” Simon said.
“We’re thrilled to support creative projects that will serve human needs, improve Jewish learning, and provide more opportunities to connect to Jewish life,” said Keith Dvorchik, president & CEO of the Jewish Federation in a statement. “Ignition Grants are another way that we engage, innovate and advocate for our community.”
The Ignition grantees, in order of funding, are:
Hillel Foundation for Jewish Life at the University of Washington: $5,000
Hillel UW’s Passover Food Truck will bring kosher-for-Passover meals throughout the Seattle area.
Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington; $5,000
The Community Learning Fellowship will allow young community members to engage in discussion of Jewish issues.
The Vashon Havurah: $5,000
The Vashon Havurah’s B’nai Mitzvah Beginnings program will help families to prepare for their children’s Bar and Bat Mitzvah and expand educational program opportunities.
The Kavana Cooperative: $4,700
Over this school year and the next, Kavana’s Exploring Jewish Adulthood program will work with middle school families, including community service projects, peer-to-peer learning, and family genealogy studies.
The Kavana Cooperative: $4,500
Six new Israel education programs. open to the entire community will focus on analyzing texts of Zionist thinkers and “My Life,” Golda Meir’s autobiography.
Stroum Jewish Community Center: $4,500
The Little Israel program offers weekly Hebrew immersion instruction for students in kindergarten through 5th grade.
The Friendship Circle of Washington: $4,000
Cooking Circle teaches children with special needs the importance of healthy eating and instills life skills necessary to cook safely from start to finish.
Holocaust Center for Humanity: $4,000
The Holocaust Center will interview Holocaust survivors from the former Soviet Union who wish to share their family stories for research and study.
Jewish Family Service: $4,000
The JFS Emergency Improvement Program will give clients in the SAJD supported-living program them resources, plans and procedures for surviving during a natural disaster or other emergency.
Seattle Hebrew Academy: $4,000
SHA will host a Hanukkah concert featuring Jewish rap artist Ari Lesser for about 300 Jewish day school students in the Seattle area.
Seattle Jewish Community School: $4,000
The Responsive Classroom, a teaching approach integrating social and emotional learning into the school day, will provide professional development to faculty and staff.
Stroum Jewish Community Center: $4,000
The Adaptive Aquatics program will train swim instructors to supervise children with special needs during pool sessions.
Stroum Jewish Community Center: $3,000
“92 Y | Live
” is a live-streaming pilot series of lectures, interviews and conversations from the 92nd Street Y in New York City that will be open to the public.
Jewish Transcript Media (JTNews): $2,375
“Letters to the Editor,” a staged retrospective of Jewish news in Washington State, presents archives, engages the community, and shows the value of our community newspaper.
Seattle Jewish Chorale: $2,300
The chorale will produce a CD and digital downloads of traditional and contemporary Jewish music from its six years of performance recordings.
Temple De Hirsch Sinai: $2,300
4th Shabbat with the Tribe hopes to creatively and innovatively attract young adults to monthly Shabbat services and activities.
Hebrew Hoops: $1,300
Hebrew Hoops will hold three half-day summer Mini-Maccabee athletic camps for Jewish boys and, for the first time, girls in grades 2-5.