I remember heading off to college, filled with the excitement of what was to come in the years ahead. Today, it’s still re-energizing to be around young college students who are enthusiastic about their education. Here at JFS, we are so fortunate to be able to award deserving local students with scholarships to aid their education through the Rubenstein Family Scholarship Program. This week, eight local students who are current and past recipients of the scholarship attended a luncheon in their honor at JFS-Turk Family Center.

At the luncheon, Board Directors Nadja Kauder and Fern Siegel, and Rita Heller (Co-Chair of Rubenstein Family Scholarship Committee)  and I chatted with each student about their school (Berkeley, UCSD, Mesa College, Wesleyan University, UC Davis, SDSU, and UC Santa Cruz) and their courses of study. I can tell you that we have some future veterinarians, teachers, and financial analysts in our midst.

Dr. Robert Rubenstein, a 2011 Mitzvah Award recipient at our annual Heart & Soul Gala, established the Rubenstein Family Scholarship Program for members of the San Diego Jewish community who are attending college or vocational school. Each year, the program grants 10-15 scholarships of up to $2,500 to students. The funds can be used toward tuition, books, and supplies. Dr. Rubenstein emphasized that recipients should give back to the community when they are able. He received help with school and he believes in the idea of “paying it forward”.

We’d like to thank Dr. Rubenstein and Marie Raftery for making the goal of a higher education a little easier for some of the brightest young minds in our community to achieve. And good luck to all the students – although I don’t think they need it.

Standing (L to R): Mike Levy, Rebecca Koppel, Tom Lebed, Nikita Boborov, Eden Berdugo, Liora Jaffe, Atara Jaffe, and Daniel Brami. Seated: Dr. Robert Rubenstein and Marie Raftery

Every year, the Serving Older Holocaust Survivors (SOS) Program throws a Hanukkah party with food, drinks, and entertainment. Let me tell you–it was so lively and fun this year that people from all over the building were stopping by to watch and everyone in the room had a big smile on their face.

Fifteen survivors attended, with several bringing their children and family members. All were treated to a wonderful performance of songs in French, Spanish, Yiddish, Hebrew, and English by seven 4th graders from the San Diego Jewish Academy, accompanied by their teacher, Shani Abed, on guitar. Then, survivor and opera singer Wolf Hartmayer delighted everyone with his amazing voice.

Thirteen year old Daniel Saloner, who raised $2,000 for the Serving Older Holocaust Survivors (SOS) Program back in July, put together Hanukkah gift bags for every survivor who attended the party. What a great way to commemorate the holiday!

This year we received a very generous donation of 33 brand new bicycles and 15 helmets for children enrolled in our Embrace-a-Family holiday gift-giving program. They were provided by an anonymous donor who has donated bicycles to San Diego non-profit organizations for the past six years.

The donor isn’t Jewish, but said he selected JFS for his donation this year because JFS has always been a benevolent San Diego organization that gives directly to clients – and that’s what he looks for when selecting where to send his donation. (Thank you!)

To raise the money for the bicycles and helmets, he sent a newsletter to the customers of his business, his friends, family, people he does business with—pretty much everyone—and asked for monetary donations. He bought the bikes and helmets and delivered them to our storage facility last Sunday.

So, why did he choose to donate bicycles? He had several reasons.

“Some of these children haven’t had many ‘brand new’ things in their lives. When you give a child with an unpleasant life a new bicycle, you do several things. You give them pride of ownership and make them equal to their peers. You give them an opportunity to exercise, an opportunity to think and dream, and an opportunity to get away from their problems. For older children, it can make them mobile enough to get a job. A bicycle serves a whole lot of purposes.”

The donor didn’t want to bring attention to himself. He said it’s not about him. I think he wants to let his gesture speak for itself and perhaps motivate others.

On behalf of the Embrace-a-Family clients, we thank this donor for his selfless actions and for making the holiday season brighter for so many children.

Craig Lambert, Senior Director of Aging & Wellness Services, is leaving JFS after 15 years of service. There is no way to adequately express in just a few paragraphs the impact Craig has had on this agency over the years. He established himself as a leader in senior care in San Diego and spearheaded many programs that make JFS the elite senior care agency it is today. To put it simply, he will truly be greatly missed.

During his time at JFS, he was instrumental in the establishment of the University City and Rancho Bernardo Older Adult Centers. He helped develop On The Go, San Diego County’s largest volunteer senior transportation program. He introduced the concept of Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) to JFS. Most recently, he developed our Care Management Transition Program in conjunction with Scripps Memorial Hospital, a program that aims to assist seniors in staying independent at home after a hospital stay.

Craig did all of these things and more, with grace, care, and a relentless drive to improve life for older adults. He was always great at seeing the “big picture” and thinking of new, creative ways to address community needs. His commitment to bringing San Diego Jewish seniors the best possible quality of life is immeasurable, and his efforts will be long lasting. Senior care in San Diego was taken to a new level because of Craig Lambert. We are grateful to have had him as a part of the JFS family. We are sad to see Craig leave, but we wish him and his family the very, very best.+

Jill Borg Spitzer and Craig Lambert

Thanks to generous new funding from the Leichtag Foundation, we are excited to be expanding our reach in North County Coastal now—and for years to come! A new social worker will be housed in Encinitas, where she will connect residents with all the great programs at JFS and hold educational, spiritual, and fun events to bring the community together. We hope you’ll join us for our first program, “Feeling at Home with Hanukkah.” This is a free workshop for interfaith couples, families, and you on Thursday, December 15. It includes singing, crafts, and teaches about the meaning and origins of Hanukkah. Childcare will be provided, too. Participants will also receive a helpful “resource manual” to help them discover and connect to Jewish agencies and programming in their area.  The Jewish community is invited but space is limited (register before it is too late). Click here for more details.

And this is just the beginning! The new initiative, the Jewish Connections Outreach and Social Work (JCOSW) program, will host more holiday events and workshops to create a more vibrant North County Coastal Jewish community. Look for more on our website in weeks to come.