Partner Spotlight: JEWISHcolorado
JEWISHcolorado has been a generous partner of JFS for many years, and currently supports the chaplaincy program and the operation of the Kosher Meals program. Through their COVID-19 Community Response Fund, they have provided $147,500 in vital funding for the JFS Weinberg Food Pantry and emergency financial assistance for the Jewish community to prevent homelessness across Colorado. JFS has also received $80,000 from extremely generous JEWISHcolorado Donor Advised Fund holders to support our COVID-19 relief efforts. The services we have provided during the pandemic would not be possible without their incredible support.
“JEWISHcolorado is and always has been committed to strengthening, supporting, and sustaining the Colorado Jewish community,” says Rabbi Jay Strear, JEWISHcolorado president & CEO. “When we began to see normal life curtailed by the initial spread of COVID-19 in Colorado, we anticipated that the needs of that community would grow as the pandemic—and its fallout—would, and we responded quickly.”
The initial allocations focused on the most vulnerable in the community, including support for our financial assistance program and the Weinberg Food Pantry, and to cover the cost of essential goods for Kavod Senior Life and Shalom Park residents. JEWISHcolorado has continued to support the financial assistance program at JFS while allocating funds to support institutional continuity for other sectors integral to Jewish life in Colorado. Among the institutions to which they provided support were summer camps that were either unable to open or operating at limited capacity and early childhood education centers preparing to open their doors to students this fall at limited capacities.
“In times of crisis, we are proud to be in a position to coordinate the community’s efforts to provide for those most in need,” says Rabbi Strear. “Such efforts are most effective with strong partners like JFS. JEWISHcolorado is grateful for the opportunity to work closely with JFS to help so many who have faced difficult circumstances during the pandemic, ensuring that they do not go hungry or without access to medicine or lose their home.”
