Metro

Grounded In Reality

Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News

B

oth celebration and determina-
tion were evident at the joint
annual meeting of the Jewish
Federation and United Jewish Foundation
of Metropolitan Detroit held Sept. 15 at
the Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield.
The celebration of accomplishments and
leadership was grounded in the reality of
a Jewish community determined to meet
and transcend serious economic and demo-
graphic challenges.
Nearly 400 community members
attended the evening program that included
the election and installation of new offi-
cers and board members and presented
the Federation's highest honor, the Fred
M. Butzel Memorial Award, to Ed Levy
Jr. of Birmingham. Michael Horowitz of
Farmington Hills became Federation presi-
dent as Nancy Grosfeld of Bloomfield Hills
ended her three-year term; Douglas Etkin
of Bloomfield Hills continues as president of
the Foundation.
Outgoing president Grosfeld called her
term as president the most challenging and
rewarding volunteer experience I have ever
undertaken: Heads nodded as she described
the economic downturn, saying in 2008 "the
world as we knew it began to change. The
recession hit and we are still reeling from its
effects. I am so proud that our Detroit Jewish
community has remained strong as we
pulled together to confront many complex
issues."
Though the Federation raised almost
$33.5 million in 2010 — through a $29
million general campaign and $4.4 mil-
lion in pledges to the Gilbert Urgent Needs
Challenge Fund — it raised $2.6 million less
than in 2009 and $5 million less than 2008.
"Local needs continue to be our primary
focus": Grosfeld said, noting the development
of the Jewish Assistance Project, efforts to
streamline operations, cut costs and improve
services such as the creation of Jewish Senior
Life, and special campaigns to support
Jewish education and the Jewish elderly.
Encouraging the growing role of young
adults in the Federation, she applauded the
activities of the Young Adult Division and its
recent Becker All-Stars mission to Israel and
CommunityNext, calling the emerging lead-
ers "thoughtful, creative, entrepreneurial and

22

September 30 • 2010

iN

Photos by Brett Mounta in

Federation/Foundation annual meeting addresses community challenges.

Nancy Grosfeld

Michael Horowitz, incoming Federation president

dedicated:'
"Support for Israel remains integral to
our mission': she said, citing the 14 missions
and exchanges during the past year, and the
continued vitality of the Partnership 2000
connection between Detroit and Israel's
Central Galilee.
Thanking the Federation staff "who con-
tinues to do more with less' she noted the
internal challenges that have included "sig-
nificant layoffs and salary reductions:'

Foundation Rebuilding
Doug Etkin reported that the investment
committee of the United Jewish Foundation
had obtained a 15 percent return during the
previous year to "rebuild reserves" to almost
$500 million. Endowment staff and lay
leadership obtained nearly 100 new commit-
ments totaling almost $50 million. He also
noted that during the past three years, estate
and mature planned gifts had also brought
in $21 million.
"These gifts will help insure the future
viability of our Detroit Jewish community
and are a testament to the generosity and
commitment of our great community,' Etkin
said. "We are not resting on our laurels. We
will continue to work as hard as we can to
increase the permanent resources of our
community to meet our growing needs in

Douglas Etkin

the years ahead:
He also cited major building projects
include the fast-rising Berman Center for
the Performing Arts at the JCC in West
Bloomfield, the completed Yeshiva Darchei
Torah Zekelman Girls School in Southfield
and the ongoing "reinvention" of the Max
M. Fisher Federation Building in Bloomfield
Hills after major water damage in 2009.

Past And Future
Incoming Federation President Michael
Horowitz spoke of a 1996 Federation Mission
that visited the site of the Theresienstadt
concentration camp located in what is now
the Czech Republic. Standing next to a tree
that had originally been planted by Jewish
children during the war was a sign that said,
"As the branches of this tree, so the branches
of our peopl'
"They planted that tree so that all of us
who visited 50 years later, 100 years later or
beyond would have an understanding of our
responsibility to a rich, but challenged past
and to the potential of the future" he said.
Citing the many strengths of our Jewish
community's "branches" — our local syna-
gogues, institutions and agencies and our
connection to Israel and Jews worldwide
— he said,"The mighty trunk that holds up
those branches and connects us as a com-

munity to those deep roots is our Federation
... because no other single institution or
agency has as its mandate the obligation to
address the needs of, connect to, be a safety
net for and assure the future of the entire
Jewish people, wherever there is a need. And
while we can't meet all of those obligations
all of the time, we always take seriously our
mission to try'
He is optimistic that our community can
meet its pressing challenges and will thrive.
"We could obsess on all of the young
people leaving Detroit, but I'd rather sing the
praises of all of our young people who are
here, who are involved, who care about the
future of our Detroit and Jewish commu-
nity": he said, also citing efforts to retain and
attract young Jews to our community.
And rather than lamenting the loss of
substantial campaign contributions and con-
tributors, he said, "I am optimistic in that we
continually engage new donors and educate
others who can to do more. Even though
we have thousands fully involved, there are
thousands more just waiting for one of us to
reach out to them. To ask them to be part of
this extraordinary endeavor.
"Federation will always understand its
obligation to the past, its responsibility to
the present and mission to build a bright
Jewish future," he pledged. "We may become
a smaller Jewish community in the future,
but that can't stop us from making Detroit a
better Jewish community"
Federation CEO Scott Kaufman told the
audience, "I believe our greatest days are
ahead of us:'
He spoke of the need for community col-
laboration and right-sizing, for "opening
every door" to empower and engage young
people, for growing the base of the campaign
with new donors and for raising more dol-
lars overall. He urged the audience to "leave
footprints for our next generation" by"think-
ing of our community as one your children"
in their estate planning.
Evan Wiener, board chair of the The
Henry Ford in Dearborn and a colleague and
friend of Ed Levy Jr., presented him with the
Butzel Award. Accepting the award Levy told
of his family's history and the influence it
has had on his life and his commitment to
the Jewish and the general communities and
particularly his commitment to Israel, high-
lighted by his decades of leadership with the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC).

❑