Sy and Carol Danish

Danishes dig deeper in time of crisis

By DEBORAH MOON

article created on: 2008-11-01T00:00:00

When Carol and Sy Danish decided to double their gift to the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Annual Campaign, it wasn’t because they have been untouched by the current economic crisis—it was because they believed others had been hit even harder.

“We are in the market, we have property and we are in this (crisis) like everyone else,” said Carol Danish.

“My grandmother told me that even though there were times they had no money coming in, there was always someone in worse shape than they were,” she continued. “That colored my views. I feel a responsibility to my community to help the vulnerable who are here.”

Leaders of this year’s annual campaign hope that that attitude prevails to enable to community to meet the growing needs of those hit hardest by the economic crisis. Emergency aid requests to Jewish Family and Child Services had increased nearly 60 percent over last year even before the mortgage crisis, bank failures and stock market crash shook the financial underpinnings of our society.

Danish said she has been dismayed to learn that some of Portland’s Jewish agencies don’t have the resources to meet the rapidly increasing needs. In addition to clients flooding JFCS, she said enrollment has declined at Portland Jewish Academy due to limited scholarship funds. And Robison Jewish Health Center is seeing an increase in those relying on Medicaid, which covers only 50 percent of their care at the home for the elderly.

“Some of our doors are not open to those who can’t afford to come in,” she said.

“At this time, if we have any ability, we cannot let this community down,” Danish said. “The community needs to run and the young and elderly need to be cared for and that’s up to us.”

A lifelong Portlander who has volunteered for the Federation campaigns for decades, Danish said she has worked on many emergency campaigns to help Israel through various crises.

“I never thought this local community would need our assistance as much as they do now,” she said.

Danish said doubling their gift was a real stretch. But she said it is tremendously rewarding to help meet the needs she sees. In addition to increasing her own gift, Danish is soliciting others and asking them to make the same stretch and feel the same rewards.

“If someone in our family needed help, we would be there,” Danish concluded. “This city and this Jewihs world are our extended family and they need our help now. We need to look into our hearts and consider what we can do to help even though our own lives are changing.”