ATLANTA JEWISH FOUNDATION | JUNE 2020

Turning Darkness Into Light:
Giving Back through Jewish Fertility Foundation

“It was the darkest time in my life,” Vicki Benjamin remembers about her five-year long struggle with infertility in the 1980’s. “All around me everyone was having babies, and we couldn’t become pregnant. What was wrong with us? Both my mother and my sister became pregnant on their honeymoons! I couldn’t even talk to them about it.”

Infertility, defined as an inability to achieve healthy pregnancy after one year of trying — or six months for women over 35 — is a medical problem most often battled in silence. Once a diagnosis is made, couples cope with a very personal kind of pain. Stories of loneliness, shame, envy, and depression abound. “I was happy for my friends with children, but for a long time, I couldn’t go to birthday parties, baby namings, and brises. The pain ran so deep. Many marriages don’t survive it.”

Now, nearly 30 years after her own dark days of infertility, Vicki Benjamin is the mother of two young adults, Elyse and Erik. She is proud to serve on the board of the Jewish Fertility Foundation and generously supports the organization through her donor-advised fund at Atlanta Jewish Foundation.

EMOTIONAL & FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Will You Help Secure
the Jewish Future?

Mike Leven is known to many of us in Atlanta as a visionary businessman and philanthropic pacesetter. He has now turned his attention to Jewish philanthropy on a national level as an architect of the Jewish Future Pledge (JFP). With JFP, Mike hopes to leverage the inter-generational transfer of wealth that is now underway to ensure robust support for the Jewish future. The Pledge is a commitment to sharing your fortune, wisdom, and values on behalf of the Jewish people. It’s a unique opportunity to guarantee that the Jewish people survive and thrive.

According to Mike, over the next 25 years, a mind-boggling $68 trillion will transfer from his generation to the next. If directed to Jewish organizations and philanthropies supporting Israel, it could mean over $600 billion to secure the Jewish future. It’s an incredible, once-in-a-generation opportunity.

We’re so proud that Mike’s initiative, born in Atlanta, has now become a national movement. Atlanta Jewish Foundation is stewarding this effort locally, as a partner of JFP, and hopes to secure many more signatures from our community. Learn more about the pledge from Mike in this compelling video. Click here to sign the pledge.

Jewish Value of the Month:
Education

Not only are Jews known as the people of the book, a recent Pew Research Center study shows that Jews are the world’s most-educated religious group. The value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish culture. It is also stressed in the Talmud which states that children should begin school at six and that they should not be kept from their lessons by other duties. Education has been a significant gateway to achievement and success for Jewish immigrants to America. It is such a core value that many feel a special obligation to support our public schools and make known the important role that they play in our society.

Giving Opportunities:
Public School Foundations
Meet Extraordinary Needs

Atlanta’s metro area public school districts are challenged to meet student needs in ways you can barely imagine. From hunger to homelessness, to enrichment and equity, many large districts struggle to serve complex student needs that can get in the way of achievement and success. Gwinnett, Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb counties have all created nonprofit foundations that raise private funds that fill in gaps state and federal education dollars cannot provide.

Gwinnett County, with 181,000 students, is the 12th largest school district in the United States. More than 12,000 Gwinnett students live in transitional housing — in cars, weekly motels or on the street. Hunger is an escalating problem in the summer months. For students who are Title 1 eligible, free and reduced breakfast and lunch are sometimes the only nutritious meals they get in a day.

The Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) Foundation has launched the WE CARE campaign with a goal to raise $1M by June 15, 2020. Aaron Lupuloff, the Senior Executive Director of the GCPS Foundation, says the money raised can literally change lives. “Providing financial support can help reduce the struggles that many of our students are currently facing. It will allow students to earn scholarships to Gwinnett Technical College where they can finish their Associate's degree and pursue a variety of careers. Donors can open doors that would normally be closed to students from families facing financial hardships.”

Please consider supporting these metro Atlanta education foundations:

Cobb County: https://cobbschoolsfoundation.org/
DeKalb County: www.dekalbeducationfoundation.org
Fulton County: https://fultoneducationfoundation.org/
Gwinnett County: https://gcps-foundation.org/

Atlanta Jewish Foundation sponsors a robust donor-advised fund program for those wishing to manage their philanthropy and leverage the tax benefits of charitable giving while benefiting the community. For more information about how Donor-Advised Funds work, watch a video, download the guidebook, and fill out an application. In addition to donor-advised Funds, Atlanta Jewish Foundation enables donors to maximize the impact of their generosity through a variety of planned gifts.

My Jewish Future Pledge is another way to shape your legacy. My Jewish Future Pledge is a national movement that asks donors to commit at least 50% of their assets intended for charitable purposes to strengthen the Jewish people and/or the State of Israel. Let AJF help you actualize your pledge.

LIFE & LEGACY ® is a capacity building partnership program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that provides training, support and monetary incentives to move organizations to secure meaningful after-lifetime legacy gifts. This program creates a strong partnership between the Atlanta Jewish Foundation and our local Jewish community agencies, synagogues and day schools.

Learn More

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ATLANTA JEWISH FOUNDATION | JUNE 2020

Will You Help Secure the Jewish Future?

Jewish Value of the Month: Education

Giving Opportunities:Public School Foundations Meet Extraordinary Needs

Will You Help Secure
the Jewish Future?

Jewish Value of the Month:
Education

Giving Opportunities:
Public School Foundations
Meet Extraordinary Needs