RJF Celebrates at Annual Meeting

Richmond Jewish Foundation recently celebrated its 31st year serving as the planned giving and endowment arm of our community.

Richmond Jewish Foundation recently celebrated its 31st year serving as the planned giving and endowment arm of our community.

The May 18 annual meeting began with a live performance by Congregation Beth Ahabah’s Ruach Hadash youth ensemble. The group received a grant from the Rachel B. Banks Youth Fund to expand the scope of Jewish music experience for both the student performers and the community.

RJF Chairman Stuart Cantor highlighted the Foundation’s accomplishments for the year, including strengthening ties with the Federation, developing a new Israel investment option for our donors and agencies, and beginning the process of reviewing the current investment adviser.

RJF President & CEO Robert Nomberg announced that the Foundation was managing over $30 million in assets and finished the calendar year +13.8%. He also reported that Sara Belle and Neil November, Willa and Malcolm (obm) Kalman, Rebecca Kalman-Winston and David Winston and Glenda and Brian Bernhardt added statements to the Book of Life. Also 88 individuals and families have created 176 legacies for the community for an estimated $12.7 million as part of Create a Jewish Legacy.

Cantor presented Charles Swartz with a Chairman’s Award for his distinguished service. Swartz chairs the Foundation’s Legal and Tax Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee. This past year Swartz helped guide the Foundation through difficult legal and tax terrain as the it amended dozens of fund agreements to help provide more funds for the community.

Ric Arenstein presented Stuart Siegel with the Anne and S. Sidney Meyers Endowment Achievement Award. The award honors those who have promoted the growth of Richmond Jewish Foundation, given financially and exhibited the qualities of “leadership, vision, imagination and activity.”

In accepting the award, Siegel stated, “Just as we provide for the future security of our own children, it becomes the responsibility of each of us to do whatever we can to create a future filled with promise for Jews here at home and across the world. And that’s the role and largely the mission of Richmond Jewish Foundation. In these tough economic times, it’s often difficult to focus on the generation yet to come, but we need to do so nonetheless. For the future of the Jewish people, the Richmond Jewish Foundation stands as our investment and our safeguard.”

Past Chair Debra Gardner installed the RJF officers and new directors. Joining Cantor as officers are Chair-Elect Andrew Brownstein, Vice Chairs Stuart Siegel and Jeffrey Lacker; Secretary Miriam Davidow; Treasurer Beth Long, and Investment Committee Chair Adam Plotkin.

Other returning directors are Beryl Ball, Irving Blank, Ruth Greene, Gregory Itskovich, Rebecca Kalman-Winston, Evelyn Lampert, Roger Leibowitz, Gail Moskowitz, Walter Rabhan, Sam Revenson, Simon Sibelman, Charles Swartz and Robert Weisberger.

New directors include Susan Craven Johnson, Jeff Gumenick, Roberta Oster Sachs, Richard Samet, Michael Schewel and Jim Weinberg.

RJF congratulated and thanked Abby Moore, Morty Brown, and Rick Gary for completion of their board service: Brown for his guidance on the grants and distributions committees, Gary for his guidance on the investment committee and Moore for his dedicated leadership on the marketing and executive committees.