The Jewish Federation greets the New Year

The start of the Jewish New Year coincides with the start of the Federation fiscal year. With the last year being filled with so many challenges and so many successes, we are excited about what this year will bring.

RAISE, our incredible work social skills and job training program for adults with special needs returns in person this fall, providing work and social skills training for adults with special needs along with 1:1 job coach support at our local agencies. If you are interested in being a job coach or know of somebody who would be a good fit for the program, please register on our website, http://www.jfgo.org.

The Bornstein Leadership Development Program returns this year with a new cohort. This amazing, year-long program, develops leaders for our Jewish community. If you are interested in applying, or know of somebody who would be interested in applying, please apply on our website. This is a highly competitive and limited program.

We have a new Israel and Overseas committee at the Federation. If you are passionate about Israel and want to have a role in deciding how the Federation invests in Israel and in connecting the Orlando Jewish community to Israel and the world Jewish community, this is the committee for you. Please contact Keith Dvorchik at kdvorchik@jfgo.org for more information. There are exciting opportunities ahead and we want your input on how to move forward.

The 2021 Orlando Jewish Community Study will be released in just a few months. The Federation engaged The Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University to complete the study and the data is truly impactful and important. Look for future announcements about the presentation of the data and what it means for our Orlando Jewish Community. In addition, Jewish agencies, organizations and synagogues will have the opportunity to meet with the Cohen Center researchers to understand what it means for their agency.

The Federation has begun to invest more in Tikkum Olam. Our Food Cart from the Heart program, providing perishable food items to those in need, continues to make an impact. We have partnered with the Lavin Family Foundation with their CC's Wish List program, providing new clothes to those in need as well as their Enchanted Backpack program, providing tens of thousands of dollars of school supplies to schools who have at least 50 percent of their children on free or reduced lunch programs. In addition, we have partnered with the TLC program at B'nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton to bring the Free Little Pantry program to Orlando. These pantries, similar to the lending libraries you have seen, provide free non-perishable items for those in need. The motto, "If you need, take; if you have, give" truly embodies Tikkun Olam. Currently there are pantries at Temple Israel and at Hillel on the UCF campus. We are actively looking for both volunteers and locations to place at least nine more pantries in Orlando this year.

Pride Shabbat will be held on Friday October 8 in partnership with the City of Orlando. This amazing Shabbat, now in it's third year, is a great way to showcase our inclusive Jewish community and join together with PRIDE. It is truly a celebration of diversity, bringing together friends and families to honor the LGBTQ+ community.

Our Family Engagement Programming began to expand all around the community with our Popsicles in the Park this summer. We are so excited to continue this expanded programming for families in areas such as Lake Nona, Southwest Orlando, Winter Garden, Oviedo, Lake Mary, and more.

There is so much more happening in our community due to the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando and we are excited to work together with our community organizations and volunteers to ensure we continue to have a growing, thriving, and inclusive Jewish community.

Shana Tovah U'Metukah – may you have a happy, healthy, and sweet new year.

Keith Dvorchik,

Executive Director