From the Director's Chair
We hope that
you enjoyed the
first of our quar-
terly newsletters
in the February
25th edition of the
Jewish News. The
JN was cooperative
Stephen M. Goldman
and very helpful
in getting our information out and we
have forged a strong relationship to
our own very special newspaper.
This month we will begin a new
membership campaign. Members
are the one "renewable resource" (to
quote the green movement) that we
can count on each year to help enable
us to continue the important work
that we do. 50,000 – 60,000 school
children come to the Center each year,
over 95% of whom are not Jewish.
Each group of middle and high school
students and their teachers tours the
permanent and temporary exhibits and
hears from one of our loyal survivors
-- and their lives are changed forever.
Join Us At The Movies!
The Holocaust Memorial Center is
pleased to present Four Seasons Lodge
as part of the Jewish Community
Center's 12th Annual Lenore Marwil
Jewish Film Festival. Scheduled for
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The survivor speakers receive hundreds
of letters from not just the teachers,
but the kids as well: they are moved,
inspired and taught. These are the
future of our community and, with
your commitment and support, will
carry their visit here with them into
adulthood. Make no mistake, the
Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman
Family Campus changes lives – for the
better.
So, if you are a member, please
consider renewing early and at a
higher level. If you are not presently a
member, join. You can know that you
are doing good. There are benefits to
membership: early notices of events,
special programs for members only, a
discount in the Museum Shop, and...
guilt-free visits to our wonderful
Holocaust Memorial Center.
The envelope enclosed in this
newsletter makes it easy to join, or go
online or call. Becoming a member
is a simple act that can have a lasting
effect on society far into the future.
Donating Appreciated Stock Makes Sense
5 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, the film
will be shown at the Palladium 12
Theater in Birmingham. Tickets are
$10 and available at the Holocaust
Center or at the theater.
From Europe's death camps to New
York's Catskills, Four Seasons Lodge
focuses on a community of Holocaust
survivors who come together each
summer. Directed by Andrew Jacobs
and beautifully captured by a team
of cinematographers led by Albert
Maysles, this counterintuitive film
about the Holocaust captures an in-
toxicating passion for living.
Since its inception, the Lenore
Marwil Jewish Film Festival has shown
films from around the world depicting
all types of Jewish life. The festival runs
from April 25 – May 6 and features
more than 35 films.
For tickets or more informa-
tion, please contact David Moss at
248.553.2400, ext. 23.
One of the benefits in the U.S. tax
code is that you are able to give a lot
of money to charitable organizations,
while letting Uncle Sam foot the bill
for a good portion of your donation.
An easy and mutually beneficial way to
donate is by gifting appreciated stock
and mutual funds. It lets you give
much more than you would in cash
and costs you a lot less.
When you gift anything—stock,
property, automobiles, you get to
deduct the fair market value as an
itemized deduction. So if you bought
$3,000 worth of XYZ Company stock
several years back and it's now worth
$15,000, the IRS doesn't care how
much you paid for it when you donate,
they only care what it's worth. In this
case, your $15,000 worth of stock
is worth the same as if you wrote a
$15,000 check.
Now say you decide instead that
you want to sell your XYZ Company
shares and give the proceeds to your
favorite non-profit—maybe the
Holocaust Memorial Center. When
you sell the stock, you'll be hit with a
$12,000 long term gain typically taxed
at 15%. And if you live in a state
with a high tax rate, you could be hit
with up to another 9% tax. Put these
two together and you are paying 24%
tax on your earnings. At 24%, the
taxes on $12,000 add up to $2,880
- leaving you with less to donate.
In addition, your allowed itemized
charitable deduction will be limited to
the $12,120 you donate to charity. If
you gift the stock outright, you can de-
duct the full $15,000 current value of
the stock – a definite win for you and a
win for the Holocaust Center.
Remember that the opposite is true
for donating stock that has lost value.
In this instance, sell the stock and
donate the cash. You will get to claim
the capital loss, as well as the benefit of
the charitable deduction.
the Righteous where they pondered
ethical themes-- and wrote about
how their visit will affect them
personally.
I'm glad I live in a free society...
I'm glad I came and saw the David
Horodok exhibit, because that's where
my family came from... I first visited
in middle school. I'm now in college
and working to become a history
teacher... I'm glad I learned about the
tragedy of the Holocaust and that I'm
keeping it from happening again...
.....I will never forget.
When students leave the
Institute of the Righteous, their
next stop is a talk with a Holocaust
survivor. Sadly, this generation may
be the last to have the opportunity
to interact with a living witness to
the Holocaust.
What can you do to help ensure
that students of all backgrounds
continue to learn the lessons of the
Holocaust?
You can become a member of
this museum. If you are already a
member, you can renew and even
upgrade.
When you support the
Holocaust Center, you help in-
spire a whole generation of young
people.
A Holocaust Memorial Center
membership shows your commit-
ment to remembrance, and that
you want to help others remember.
Membership demonstrates a pas-
sion for keeping our doors open so
that people of all faiths can learn
about this tragic period of history,
while also experiencing a lesson in
the richness of European Jewish life
and culture.
Members receive benefits too.
A Holocaust Museum member-
ship entitles you to free admission,
our newsletter, event notices, and
special members-only programs.
Members at higher levels can
become Lift Members and receive
special recognition.
With your support, we can
continue to teach and inspire more
than 120,000 people each year.
Your donation pays tribute to the
survivors and memorializes the vic-
tims. Without your support, Never
Again are just two words.
Membership Matters
It's springtime
in Michigan
-technically at
least. Passover is
behind us and
kids are already
contemplating
summer break.
David M. Moss
For some
60,000 teens from across Michigan,
this current school year was a lit-
tle different than years past. This
year, they visited our Holocaust
Memorial Center. These students
learned about remembrance. They
learned about antisemitism and
hate. They learned about the im-
portance of standing up for what is
right.
Toward the end of their tour,
they visited the Harry & Wanda
Zekelman International Institute of
2
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTEX
ZEKELMAN FAMILY CAMPUS
' Spring 2010
Please join today.
For more information about
membership, contact David Moss
at 248.553.2400, ext. 23, or
david.moss@holocaustcenter.org