Portland honors young Jews

By PAUL HAIST

article created on: 2008-12-15T00:00:00

The Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation was honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Dec. 4 as the “Outstanding Innovative Project” of 2008.

The AFP’s Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter presented awards to individuals and organizations here in eight philanthropic categories at a luncheon banquet attended by 680 people at the Portland Marriot Downtown Waterfront Hotel.

In introducing the innovation award, master of ceremonies Gerry Frank explained that the award is presented “to groups who demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation.”

Cedar Sinai Park Chief Executive Officer David Fuks, whose organization has received support from the youth foundation, was invited to elaborate on the young people’s achievement. He began by praising
Oregon Jewish Community Foundation Executive Director John Moss who created the youth foundation under the aegis of the OJCF. It was Moss who accepted the award.

Pointing to current widespread investment disappointments on Wall Street, Fuks said, “My friend John Moss found an investment that is going to continue to pay off.”

His reference was to the teenagers who comprise the youth foundation.

“They’ve learned to go out and raise their own funds. They’ve learned to assess the needs of the community,” said Fuks. “This investment is already paying an enormous dividend.”

Now in its sixth year of operation, the youth foundation made $37,000 in grants in its most recent allocation cycle.

In accepting the award, Moss looked to the future of the young philanthropists who are about to embark on their higher education careers.

“My fondest hope is that they will come back to Portland and be leaders,” he said. “This generation will rise to the occasion and do the right thing.”

Moss credited the OJCF board for enabling him to establish and build the youth foundation.

A few of the youth foundation members were able to take time off from school to attend the award luncheon. One of them, Mariah Kaplan, the daughter of Marni Glick and Hank Kaplan, briefly addressed the gathering.

“Being part of the Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation has been one of the most meaningful experiences I have had,” she said.

Aaron Pearlman, who is the director of development at the Portland State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and also the executive director of Greater Portland Hillel, addressed the banquet in his additional role as outgoing president of the local AFP chapter.

He reminded those present of the enduring necessity of people like themselves.

“For over 20 years we have met each year to pay tribute to the leaders of philanthropy in Oregon and southwest Washington. While the faces of philanthropy have changed over that time, the importance of the work has not. Our communities rely on us to help them find the financial resources to meet urgent needs every day.”

Pearlman told the Jewish Review that the youth foundation was originally nominated for AFP recognition by Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Executive Vice President Charles R. Schiffman in 2006. Pearlman subsequently advanced the nomination.

In making the initial nomination Schiffman called the youth foundation “an innovative project that increases philanthropic awareness on the part of teenagers” while “modeling good citizenship.”

Other honorees at the award banquet included:
• Al and Pat Reser—Vollum Award for Lifetime Philanthropic Achievement
• Bill and Karen Early—Outstanding Philanthropists
• Hillman Lueddemann—Thomas Lamb Elliot Award for Service to Philanthropy
• Ken Thrasher—Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser
• Nike—Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation
• The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation—Outstanding Philanthropic Foundation
• Ben Walker and Rory Bialostosky—Youth in Philanthropy

The Association of Fundraising Professionals is a national organization with 27,000 professional members. The Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter started the Oregon Philanthropy Awards 22 years ago to recognize leaders in philanthropy.