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 UPr,k, 4r,-, Ar4 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