Grantmaking
Each year, contributions from hundreds of donors enable RJF to award grants to a variety of organizations making a difference in the Richmond, Virginia area. Grant recipients include a diverse group of organizations and programs dedicated to providing invaluable services to the Jewish community and others in need. In 2015, the generosity of our donors enabled RJF to distribute over $2.1 million and 77% of those dollars supported Jewish Richmond. Our grants fall into two basic categories: grants awarded through an open application process and those awarded by donors through donor advised funds.
Community Grants and Scholarships
RJF oversees several grant programs that allow us to be responsive to community and individual needs. These grants are supported by unrestricted, field of interest and special purpose funds. Following is a schedule of available grant sources and a description of the various funds. Please contact the RJF office with questions about funding opportunities or to create your own fund.
Spring Grant Opportunities – Overnight Jewish Summer Camp and Study and Travel in Israel
Benjamin M. and Mondel K. Saslaw Education Fund
This fund provides educational opportunities not otherwise available to young Jewish persons living in the Richmond, VA metro area below the age of 19 years including, but not limited to, scholarships for individual students in the pre-school, summer camp, and day care programs of the Weinstein JCC, the Rudlin Torah Academy, congregational religious schools, and similar institutions, or for programs in these institutions which will benefit a group of students, special Jewish camps or for study in Israel.
Mooney, Rose and Mosey Greenberg Israel Scholarship Fund
This fund awards need-based scholarships for travel to Israel to greater Richmond, VA area students between the ages of 15-22 at the time of departure.
Karp/Sroka Memorial Fund
This fund provides need-based scholarships to children from the Richmond, VA and Tidewater metropolitan areas for Jewish overnights camps.
Rachel B. Banks Youth Fund
This fund provides grants to address current unmet needs of Jewish youth or to develop innovative and creative approaches to enhance the programs, services or lifestyle of Jewish youth in the Richmond, VA area.
Stanley* J., Sidney* S. and Irwin* A. Schapiro Education Fund
This fund fund supports the education of Jewish youth in the Richmond, VA area.
Summer Grant Opportunities – Older Adults and Exceptional Needs
Ernst & Anne Fischer Older Adult Fund
This fund provides services not otherwise available to older adults.
Sylvia and Max Plotkin Memorial Fund
This fund supports programs to assist senior citizens with a preference given for day-care facilities for senior citizens who reside in their own homes or the homes of their children.
Karin E. and Henry S. Fine Legacy Fund
This fund supports organizations in Central Virginia which (i) provide resources and support for children and adults with special needs and their families, including but not limited to learning disabilities, autism, muscular dystrophy and arthritis; and (ii) promote the education and awareness of the issues facing children and adults with special needs and their families.
Jill A. Peck* Memorial Fund
This fund enriches Jewishly the lives of exceptional children through the provisions of tutorial, medical recreational, and therapeutic assistance of any Jewish dimension, commensurate with the needs of these children.
Joy Kramer Memorial Fund
This fund provides services and assistance that would otherwise not be available for the treatment of learning disabilities in the Richmond metropolitan area.
Fall Grant Opportunities – Holocaust and Tolerance
Herbert J and Ruth B. Rubel Holocaust Education Fund
This fund supports programming for Holocaust education, with priority given to supporting direct services to youth and educators located in central Virginia.
Henry and Gertrude Kupfer Holocaust Education Fund
This fund supports Holocaust education.
Brenda Zimm Oscar and Melvin Zimm Memorial Fund
This fund supports programming for Holocaust education in Richmond, VA with priority given to support direct services to local youth and educators, then to other related local activities.
Alexander Lebenstein Fund for Tolerance and Human Rights
This fund supports special opportunities that enhances the practice of tolerance, appreciation for diversity and embrace human rights. Grants will be available to support the following: For purchase of resources such as books or classrooms or workshops; for fees of speakers discussing in a charitable, educational or religious setting, tolerance, human rights and/or diversity; or; for such other programs, services or activities as may be in furtherance of the fund’s purpose.
Ipson Holocaust Education Fund
This fund provides grants to support Holocaust education.
Captain James M. Klaus Inter-Group Outreach Grant Fund
This fund provides funding for positive programming that will strive to enhance inter-group and inter-religious understanding within the greater Richmond area. This will be accomplished through initiatives that would involve both Jewish and non-Jewish community agencies, institutions, organization, and individuals. Issues ranging from public school-based ethnic diversity programs to programs combating racism and anti-Semitism are among the many that can be considered for funding from this program.
