From the Director's Chair I hope that you enjoy this first of our new quarterly newsletters. Plac- ing it in the Jewish News provides us with a venue and circulation Stephen M. Goldman befitting our new look — reaching out, communicating openly about the programs, exhibits, educational products and special events that will define a new era in the life of the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus. As we enter our second quarter- century, the Center has undertaken a massive effort to reach new heights, always keeping our Mission in sight, but striving toward a new future. There is a renewed excitement throughout the Center. We are providing higher levels of visitor service, bringing new constituencies to the Core Exhibit, and renewing the interest of our previous visitors, members, survivors, and past support- ers through temporary exhibits like The Auschwitz Album, which opened with a special members' event on the sixty-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Each new exhibit will provide a perspective on the Holocaust and Jewish history. Survivor artists, Israeli artists, historical exhibitions and photography, sculpture, music and the performing arts will illuminate the themes ever-present in Jewish life. There will always be a reason to return to the Holocaust Memo- rial Center: let us take you from a transport coming to Auschwitz in The Auschwitz Album, to the almost surreal art of Samuel Bak, whose first exhibition was in the Lodz Ghetto when he was a child and all of whose work is colored by his life in the ghetto and survival, and to who-knows- where. Exhibits will come to us from the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Jewish Museum of Vienna, Yad Vashem, and from around the world. Join with us as we reinvent the idea of a Holocaust Center. Become a member or renew your membership, sponsor an exhibit or program, use the library, volunteer, or just come and visit. Let us know how you like our newsletter. Come and learn, come and see the hundreds of school children who come to the Center each day, rejoice in the message of hope that YOUR Holocaust Memorial Center sends to its visitors. Come on in and catch the excitement. School Collects Pennies, Raises Awareness Charitable Alternatives for Donors Cristy Berger still remembers corn- is a difficult one to grasp. But their ing to the Holocaust Center with her Survivor's story and this display led the school 20 years ago. When she began students to conceive of a "6 Million teaching at her alma mater, she was Penny Drive," in which they would happy to see that the trip had become share their knowledge and ask neigh- an annual tradi- bors to donate their tion for 8th grade pennies as a way of Language Arts helping to under- students at this stand just how many Madison Heights men, women, and middle school. children actually Now coordi- perished during this nator of the trip, horrific period. Wilkinson students (far left and right) Vosta Zaia Cristy sees the Cristy feels and Larsa Murad initiated the Penny Project in 2009. They are joined by teacher, Cristy Berger HMC not only that the Holocaust and Executive Director Stephen M. Goldman. as a place for Center helps stu- students to gain valuable knowledge of dents see beyond their own surround- a historical event, but also a venue for ings and begin to learn and care about truly understanding the terror inflict- others. "No matter how many times ed on the Jewish people. you visit, you always leave with a new Last year, Cristy realized that experience. This is why I will continue her students learned something else: to bring my students every year." As During a post-tour discussion, the of their most recent visit in January, students kept talking about the "paper Wilkinson School students had col- clip" display. The number 6,000,000 lected 125,000 pennies. By Norman Pappas Many donors aren't aware of how many options there are for planned charitable giving that can provide mutual benefits for the donor and the charity. Let's look at some of them: A gift of stock or real estate can provide a tax deduction to the donor (up to 30% of their adjusted gross in- come) and an avoidance of the capital gains tax. For example, a stock buyout for $10,000 that grows to $30,000 would have a capital gains tax of $3,000 (15% x $20,000 gain). If the stock were donated to the Holocaust Center, the donor would receive a tax savings of $12,000 ($30,000 x 40% Federal & State tax) and would avoid the capital gains tax of $3,000. This also applies to real estate and other assets, so long as they are held for a minimum of one year. Alternatively, the donor can make a gift of the stock in cash and create an income stream for their lifetime through a Gift Annuity or a Charitable Remainder Trust. The yield will depend on the age of the donor. A third option is that the donor can make a gift of stock or cash and have the income go to the Holocaust Center for a period of years and then revert the principal back to the donor. There are several other lesser- known methods of charitable giving. For example, people over 70 1/2 can leave up to $100,000 of an IRA (for 2009 and 2010) to the Holocaust Center. Some life insurance policies can be created to avoid taxable gains, while replacing the donor's annual gift or creating a permanent endowment. As Winston Churchill said, "We create a meaningful life by what we give, not what we get." For more information about planned giving, contact David Moss at 248.553.2400, ext. 23, or clavid.moss@holocaustcenter.org Why give to the Holocaust Memorial Center? The answer is within these walls, and all around you. Before deciding to work here, I asked myself whether David M. Moss I'd give to the Holocaust Center. One of the first rules in fundraising is that you make your own gift before asking others to do so. Why do I give? I give in memory of those who perished in this most horrible of atrocities. 2 HOLOCAUST M EMORIAL OMER ZHCELMAN NACU cAleus Winter 2010 I give in recognition of those lucky enough to escape via the Kindertransport or through the altruistic acts of a righteous person who risked his or her own life to save the life of a Jewish stranger. I give as a tribute to those who endured subhuman conditions and unimaginable acts in the Nazi concentration camps, but somehow survived to taste freedom once again. Why should you give? Give because it feels good. Or give until it feels good! Give because by doing so, you are standing up against antisemitism, bigotry and intolerance. Give because each donation, no matter how big or how small, is used by our Holocaust Center for the purpose of engaging and educating a new generation of youth. These are the people we must count on to tell the story once there are no more living witnesses. We need your support! The Holocaust Center does not charge for admission. We feel that nobody should be turned away from the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust. We don't receive allocations from the State of Michigan, or from the Jewish Federation. To keep our doors open, we rely on the kindness and commitment of the community --people like you who believe that we should all support this shining monument to the memory of Holocaust victims. We do seek out grant dollars from corporations and foundations. When applying, it makes our case that much stronger when we can say that our community, Jews and non Jews alike, support our Holocaust Center. What I will leave you with is Tikkun Olam. By giving to the Holocaust Center -- and that gift could be in the form of money, time, or professional expertise, you create hope for future generations. You ensure that the world will not forget. You see to it that this kind of tragedy never happens again. You help repair the world.