Jewish Community Youth Foundation participants hold a $2,500 check for National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene’s Folksbiene.RU program on Feb. 23, 2014 at Robbinsville High School. Front: Ben Litwin (West Windsor), Rachel Glasser (Princeton), Folksbiene.RU director of marketing and outreach Marina Reydler, Amy Hauer (Princeton) and Ari Rosen of (Robbinsville). Back: Will Benthem de Grave (Princeton), Aaron Korbman (Robbinsville), Matt Britman (Robbinsville) and Tyler Brunstein (Pennington). (Photo by Sarah Merians Photography).
The Jewish Community Youth Foundation awarded $72,000 to support programs by area teenagers.
In addition to awarding new grants, JCYF celebrated its cumulative giving of $535,745 since the program’s inception at its annual Philanthropy Fair and Check Presentation Ceremony on Feb. 23.
A total of $72,000 was distributed to 24 programs by 174 area teens representing 16 middle schools, 21 high schools and 21 synagogues. Recipients include Robbinsville residents Emily Britman, Jackie Harris, Samantha Fleischner, Casey Hopkins, Matthew Britman, Gabi Horowitz, Lexi Horowitz, Aaron Korbman, Jennifer Meiskin, Rebecca Block, Loren Klein, Ari Rosen, Benjamin Sanders and Adam Rosen.
Highlights of the evening included an interactive texting exercise polling the audience’s views on philanthropy and Jewish values. Additionally, Rabbi Feldman of The Jewish Center in Princeton delivered a D’var Torah about the benefits the receiver and donor. JCYF alumni advisers Lily Pepper and Ben Siegel addressed the audience about coming full circle from program participant to advisers.
During the ceremony, West Windsor resident Daniel Fine won the fourth annual JCYF Distinguished Alumni Award. Fine is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania and a 2011 JCYF graduate. He received a $360 award, which he plans to donate to MEOR, an organization dedicated to instilling participants with a personal identity that inspires commitment to Jewish values.
JCYF is a teen philanthropy program and a project of Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Mercer County and funded by the Ricky and Andrew J. Shechtel Philanthropic Fund and the Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks.
More information is online at jfcsonline.org/jcyf.
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