By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, The Jewish Sound
This past year, the Samis Foundation allocated over $4 million to local Jewish education and camps, disaster relief, Jewish life, as well as social services and war relief in Israel.
Though Samis’s work is evident across the community, these figures are not widely known. For years Samis did not publicize its granting process.
But this year, the Samis team, led by executive director Rob Toren, decided to put a full page ad in this paper with a list of beneficiaries from its large trust, established by Sam Israel in 1979.
“Instead of people wondering what Samis does, we thought we would be clear about what we fund,” Toren said.
Toren said in the past the foundation has put out annual reports, but they were more effort than they seemed to be worth.
“I was somewhat inspired when I saw Federation showing its allocations [in the JTNews],” Toren said. “If you don’t tell your story, people will fill in the blanks and tell their own story.”
Beneficiaries of Samis Foundation grants are invited to apply for funding. That includes the local day schools, camps, and the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington, and a number of other programs and initiatives locally and in Israel. The foundation provides matching grants in many cases, including allocations to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.
Another stipulation of Sam Israel was to provide funding to “widows and orphans” (a directive from the Torah), and this year SAMIS provided a one-time gift of $200,000 each to the Beer Sheva Shelter for Abused Women expansion and the Jerusalem Shelter for Abused Women’s renovation of its children’s wing.
The foundation contributed to relief efforts from this summer’s conflict with Hamas, resulting in $165,000 in partnership with the Rashi Foundation, Jewish Federations of North America, and the Sephardic Education Center.
“We felt we needed to respond in an unusually generous degree,” Toren said.
Five thousand dollars were also donated to the Oso mudslide disaster relief effort.
“Sam stipulated in the foundational documents that disaster relief would be something he wanted his foundation to support,” Toren added.
Seeing the Samis allocations on paper makes clear how crucial the foundation is to the health of community institutions.
“Many [day schools] have said that ‘were it not for Samis
, it’s hard to imagine how we would exist,’” said Toren.
“Samis Foundation funding of the Seattle Hebrew Academy is deeply valued and critical to our actualization of the mission of our school,” said Rivy Poupko Kletenik, the Modern Orthodox day school’s head of school. “We can’t imagine a Jewish education world in Seattle without the Samis Foundation.”
SHA received $654,589 from Samis this year for its operating budget. The allocation helps fill the gap between the school’s massive fundraising efforts and tuition, as well as funding from the Federation and endowments.
“The responsibility of the education of Jewish children is not only relegated to their parents,” said Kletenik. “It’s the entire community’s responsibility to educate the children. Sam Israel realized how important it was to leave his funds to the Jewish community.”
Camp Solomon Schechter has been receiving an opportunities grant for about five years, which has funded a ropes course, zip line, climbing tower, sports equipment and boats.
“These things would increase the number of campers,” said Sam Perlin, the camp’s director. “Truth be told, it was true. You gotta get the kids in the door. Little kids don’t want to talk about learning Judaism. These are the bells and whistles.”
This year, Schechter took a more formal Jewish approach, and received funding to purchase a new Torah scroll and hold a “613th mitzvah program” to welcome the Torah. The scribe came out to put the final letters in the scroll, and the kids, parents, donors, and Samis trustees were invited to the party.
“Schechter has really benefited from the Samis Foundation,” said Perlin. “They adore our local camps and really understand how camps are making an impact. They’re beautiful.”