World
Philanthropic Swirl
Fall Fix Up
Detroit Federation ranks among top
national collecting nonprofits.
Volunteers help homebound seniors
get their houses ready for winter.
New York/ JTA
ewish Family Service of
Metropolitan Detroit's 13th
annual Fall Fix Up on Oct.
25 drew more than 200 volunteers,
who met in the morning at the Jewish
Community Center in Oak Park.
After getting their assignments,
they headed out to ready for winter
the houses of older homebound Jews
by making minor repairs and provid-
ing indoor and outdoor cleanup.
Fall Fix Up is an opportunity for
M
ore than 20 Jewish charities,
including the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, were
featured on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's
Philanthropy 400, despite some serious
drops in fundraising.
The annual ranking of top money-col-
lecting nonprofits looked at charitable
collections for 2008, a year in which many
charities felt the pain of the recession and
the early fallout from Bernard Madoff's
Ponzi scheme.
The Jewish charities included on the list
each took in more than $55 million, but
they also saw some of the biggest indi-
vidual drops in donations.
The country's largest Jewish charity,
the Jewish Federations of North America,
formerly known as the United Jewish
Communities, took in $398.5 million, but
its donations fell by 25.3 percent. The tally
for the umbrella organization of the Jewish
federation system includes money that
passes through from local federations to
the system's overseas arms, the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and
the Jewish Agency for Israel as well as
federations' dues to the national group,
money from special campaigns and an
annual grant from the U.S. government.
Hadassah, though its officials have
worked hard to avoid being hurt by the
fallout from the Madoff scandal, saw its
donations drop by nearly half, to just over
$85 million in 2008.
In all, according to the Chronicle, dona-
tions to the country's largest charities
grew by 1 percent last year. But many of
the organizations listed closed their fis-
cal years in June or September, before the
recession truly took hold.
The Chronicle expects the 1 percent
increase to drop precipitously in 2009 and
perhaps further in 2010.
j
individuals, families and organiza-
tions to make a difference in the lives
of the community's elderly.
The Fall Fix Up committee was
headed by Jack Cherney and also
includes Dr. Steven Dunn, Micki
Grossman, Nathan Shiovitz, Sharon
Havis, Robin Pluto and Sara Voight.
Sponsors included Broner Inc.,
Beaumont Hospital, the JCC, Universal
Bearing Co. and Yeshivas Darchei
Torah.
Jewish Charities On Top 400 List:
How the largest Jewish nonprofits on the Chronicle of Philanthropy list fared in 2008
— by rank, level of private support and performance compared to 2007:
40. Jewish Federations of North America: $398,400,000 (-25.3%)
55. Jewish Communal Funds (New York): $299,300,000 (-26.9%)
71. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: $244,700,000 (+1.3%)
108. Yeshiva University: $182,880,000 (+23.8%)
111. United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York:
$177,500,000 (-21.3%)
132. Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund of Chicago: $157,300,000 (-19.8%)
181. Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and
Sonoma Counties: $120,000,000 (-28.8%)
197. Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston: $107,600,000 (+5%)
239. Brandeis University: $89,400,000 (+3.6%)
241. Jewish Community Foundation (Los Angeles): $89,000,000 (-5.9%)
246. Birthright Israel Foundation: $87,600,000 (n/a)
253. Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America: $85,620,000 (-49.9%)
274. United Jewish Foundation and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit:
$79,200,000 (+11.1%)
276. United Jewish Communities of MetroWest: $78,800,000 (+71.4%)
286. American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science: $75,370,000 (-29.2%)
293. P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds: $73,900,000 (+22.9%)
308. Anti-Defamation League: $68,250,000 (n/a)
312. American Society for Technion: $67,800,000 (+5.9%)
317. Jewish Community Foundation for San Diego: $67,000,000 (+53.4%)
346. Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland: $58,590,000 (-21.5%)
349. Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles: $57,930,000 (n/a)
355. The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore: $56,350,000 (-11.4%)
361. Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS: $55,290,000 (-13.6%)
24
October 29 • 200'
Isaac Pitt, 5, of Birmingham works on a yard.
Daniella Contorer, 10, of Huntington
Esther Proaw of Oak Park, an
Woods and Avi Brandvain of Farmington Auschwitz survivor, is grateful for
Hills clean windows.
the help.