On the evening of May 30, Richmond Jewish Foundation installed new directors and officers during its annual meeting, then hosted 175 community members at the Weinstein JCC for the 2nd annual Life & Legacy donor thank you celebration.

During the annual meeting, RJF Chairman Adam Plotkin welcomed and updated the board.  At the end of 2017, RJF was managing just under $40 million in assets. During the year, $3.7 million was donated to RJF from 171 donors and RJF granted out over $3.3 million to 176 different charities. Ninty-two percent of those dollars supported our local community and over two dozen new funds were created during the year.

Jim Weinberg, Nominating Committee chair, installed RJF’s new directors and officers. New officers include Frances Goldman (chair), GD Rothenberg (treasurer), Jeff Scharf (secretary) and Miriam Davidow (assistant secretary).  New directors in the Class of 2021 include: Beryl Ball, Josh Goldberg, Jessica Samet, Michael Pirron, Clare Sisisky and Wolf Joffe.

When asked why the RJF chairmanship was important to her, Goldman answered, “RJF is the bedrock of all charitable giving in Jewish Richmond and legacy giving is vital to the long-term health of Jewish Richmond. RJF represents the past, present and future of our community’s legacies for all generations. I’m excited about letting everyone in Richmond, Jewish and not, know about the benefits their donations can provide now and for posterity.”

Weinberg thanked the following directors who are rotating off the RJF board: Andy Brownstein, David Fratkin, Ruth Greene, Gail Moskowitz, Walter Rabhan and Jay Schwartz.

Members of the Nominating committee include chairman, Jim Weinberg, Frances Goldman, Adam Plotkin and Andy Brownstein.

Life & Legacy Celebration

The annual meeting was followed by the Life & Legacy Celebration that included a lively cocktail reception and awards program.

During the celebration, it was announced that over the last two years more than 320 donors created 444 legacies for a projected almost $17 million in future gifts for the Richmond Jewish community.

Frances Goldman presented the Anne and S. Sidney Meyers Endowment Achievement Award to Sue and Charles (OBM) Harowitz. The award is presented to community members who are outstanding contributors to the field of Jewish endowments.

The Anne and S. Sidney Meyers Endowment Achievement Award honors those who promote the growth of Richmond Jewish Foundation, give financially and exhibit the qualities of “leadership, vision, imagination and activity.”The Meyers believed that the award would encourage others to become involved and benefit the community.

Charles and Sue first began a relationship with RJF in 1999 by creating the Florine H. and Charles L. Harowitz Donor Advised Fund. This relationship continues today as Sue recently funded the Florine H. and Charles L. Harowitz Legacy Fund that was created prior to Charles’s passing in 2015.

At the event, the creation and funding of the Florine H. and Charles L. Harowitz Camp Hilbert Scholarship Fund also was announced.

Goldman then presented the Jack Paul Fine Mitzvah Society Award to Heritage Wealth Advisors for their commitment to building long-term and lasting relationships with many of Richmond Jewish Foundation’s most ardent supporters and donors and to help them with their charitable priorities.

The Jack Paul Fine Mitzvah Society Award honors local estate planning professionals committed to philanthropic giving and the future of the Jewish community and who have been instrumental in working with their clients to create lasting gifts to our community through RJF.

The evening’s festivities concluded with the presentation of a “Dear Donor” legacy thank you video and a presentation of incentive checks to the Life and Legacy partners for meeting or exceeding their goals for the year.