Jewish Community Foundation Announces Cutting Edge Grants Totaling Nearly $1.5 Million

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation) today announced it has awarded approximately $1.5 million through its Cutting Edge Grants Initiative (CEGI) to ten local nonprofit organizations. The two largest awards, $250,000 each, went to LimmudLA, a grassroots initiative that promotes Jewish learning and community building across religious denominations, and the Los Angeles Jewish Federation for its Jewish Summer Overnight Camp Support Initiative.

“We’ve designed the Cutting Edge Grants to inspire social entrepreneurs and creative thinkers to develop projects that explore fresh approaches to solving social problems and enriching the community’s quality of life”

The CEGI program—under which grant-seekers can receive a maximum of $250,000 over three years—is designed to launch innovative efforts that break new ground and positively impact the greater Los Angeles Jewish community. Created in 2006, this category of grants also provides funding for local replications of programs already successfully rolled out in other geographic markets.

“We’ve designed the Cutting Edge Grants to inspire social entrepreneurs and creative thinkers to develop projects that explore fresh approaches to solving social problems and enriching the community’s quality of life,” said Marvin I. Schotland, The Foundation’s president and chief executive officer. “In addition, the process encourages grant recipients to forge new partnerships with other community organizations.”

LimmudLA (limmud is Hebrew for study) received its grant for a year-long educational and marketing campaign to promote Jewish learning, culminating in an annual conference that celebrates Jewish living, arts and culture.

“Obtaining such a significant grant from The Foundation is a wonderful validation of our new program,” said Ruth Rotenberg, LimmudLA executive director. “Also, the grant process is healthy for a new volunteer-driven organization like ours, because it guides us to build in certain criteria to help us measure our impact on the community and our progress in meeting our goals.”

Also receiving the maximum award is the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Summer Overnight Camp Support Initiative, which aims to increase the number of youngsters attending Jewish residential summer camps. In partnership with six Jewish summer camp programs, this Initiative will conduct seminars, community outreach and an expanded marketing effort to accomplish its goals. This initiative grew out of a 2005 strategic-planning grant awarded by The Foundation to the Foundation for Jewish Camping for a research study on how parents and children choose whether to attend a Jewish or unaffiliated camp.

According to Julie Platt, chair of the Federation’s Jewish Camping Initiative Steering Committee: "Jewish camping is one of the best ways to turn kids on to Judaism and have it last their lifetime. The generosity of the Jewish Community Foundation grant enables us to engage more children in the joy and transformative experience of Jewish camping, allows us to better inform the community about the positive impact of Jewish camping; encourages a broader range of families to try Jewish camping; and assists our local camps in enhancing their good work for years to come."

One of the newer groups to obtain a grant is JQ International, Inc., founded in 2004, which received $120,000. Through programs aimed at Jewish gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals between the ages of 20 and 40, the organization seeks to advance Jewish identity and inclusion in the L.A. community. Foundation funds will help JQ International build infrastructure, partner with other organizations to offer educational programs, and expand and diversify its membership.

“This grant is instrumental in helping the Jewish community reconnect with a significant segment of the population that has been marginalized for so many years,” said JQ International Executive Director Barry Gellis. “It’s a great opportunity to reach out to Jews from many backgrounds who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, and bring them into mainstream Judaism. Working closely with Foundation staff has helped us develop a greater understanding of how a nonprofit organization can operate most effectively to serve its constituency.”

In addition to awards made to LimmudLA, the Jewish Summer Overnight Camp Support Initiative and JQ International, other recipients include:

• American Jewish University, in partnership with the Jewish Journal and Koreh LA, for Celebration of Jewish Books, an interdenominational Jewish literary program that includes a week-long festival and programming throughout the year: $200,000.
• Jews for Judaism International, Inc., in partnership with Los Angeles Hillel Council, Jewish Student Union, Shalom Institute, and Los Angeles Hebrew High, for Community Mobilization and Empowerment Against Proselytizing, a program designed to counter efforts of missionaries and cults to convert Jewish high school and college students: $175,000.
• Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles, for The CoP Project: An Innovative Approach to Professional Development, to improve the knowledge and skills of Jewish educators and performance of Jewish schools: $160,000.
• Camp Ramah in California, Inc., for Camp Ohr Lanu, a week-long camp serving all members of families with special-needs children ages five through 17: $125,000.

• Jewish Free Loan Association, for Nursing Student Loan Fund, an interest-free fund at the Annenberg School of Nursing that will increase the pool of skilled nurses at Jewish Home for the Aging: $96,000.
• Friends Around (Friendship Circle), for Club Kung Fu, a martial arts program for Jewish special needs children ages nine through 15 to improve self-discipline, self-esteem and physical fitness: $80,000.

About The Foundation

Established in 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation is the largest manager of charitable assets and the leader in planned giving solutions for Greater Los Angeles Jewish philanthropists. The Foundation currently manages assets of $743 million and ranks among the largest Los Angeles foundations (based on total assets). In 2006, The Foundation and its 1,200-plus donors distributed $70 million in grants to more than 1,700 organizations with programs that span the range of philanthropic giving.