Strength in Numbers: How JWEF Amplifies Charitable Giving
Donna B. Ayres, President of the Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund, shares how the group creates lasting change through collective contributions.
I recently had the opportunity to mingle with some of those who attended the “Taste of Chugim” Community Club Fair at the Jewish Federation on Sunday, February 23rd, aiming to introduce people to all the activities and interest groups at the Jewish Federation, perhaps encouraging them to sign up for something fun, new, and intriguing. I was there to talk about the benefits of the Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund managed by the Jewish Federation and founded nearly 25 years ago by 14 Jewish women dedicated to helping women and children in need. These founders decided to pool their $5,000 each to form a “giving circle,” a way to increase the power of charitable giving by joining forces with like-minded people. This multiplies the power of individual contributions.
I began my engagement with people by asking three questions: Are you a giver? What is a “giving circle”? What is a “force multiplier?” I was most interested to hear if people make charitable gifts in today’s world of competing needs and increasing costs.
Women who have and wish to give $500 a year to charity can join with members of the Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund. Together, they have contributed $5,000 each to increase the endowed fund to the point where it now generates over $16,000 a year in grants to nonprofit organizations dedicated to making the lives of women and children more safe, secure, well-educated, fun, and healthy. It took me ten years to give $5,000, but I was able, and proud, to do it with no interest. Where else would you get such a cheap loan?
I learned, in my 32 years working for the US Army, about the power of teamwork. Contributions of $500 become a force multiplier that increases those amounts exponentially. I told those I spoke to that in 2024 JWEF gave grants to the Beacon Health Foundation to provide parents with Pack & Play sleeping units to prevent the suffocation of their child who slept with them. JWEF gave a grant to the Family Justice Center of St. Joseph County for supplies and meals to allow mothers who can’t afford babysitters to attend a safe meeting place where they can express themselves, including stories of their domestic violence issues. Ruth Kremer, for example, is a member of the Jewish Federation’s Board of Directors and president of Temple Beth Shalom in Benton Harbor, MI. She used a small grant from JWEF to launch a sustainable operation called “United Through Motherhood.” Today it garners donated diapers and supplies for at-risk mothers so they can place their children in day care and go to work or school.
JWEF grants are not only for Jewish people; rather, they reflect our Jewish values of tikkun olam, chesed, and tzedakah. They show kindness in charitable giving directed at repairing the world. The grants given in 2024 also went to St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Joseph County’s food bank, Hannah’s House for meals for unmarried pregnant women, and the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Afghan Resettlement Agency—a program to facilitate Afghan women in learning English while bonding with their community. Our contributions also helped the Jewish Federation fund a slushy machine for their Gan Ideal preschool summer day camp.
There will always be more people and organizations that need help than we have grants to give out. However, the feeling we get when our funds make these differences is thrilling. So, I invite you to learn more about JWEF by contacting us at JWEF@TheJewishFed.org, or calling the Federation’s Administrative Assistant, Dr. Louise, at (574) 233-1164, ext. 1820. She will direct you to me or Judy Wein, who heads up our Grant Committee evaluating applications with explicit criteria.
We would love to talk with you about the good we have proudly done with even more grants.
Donna B. Ayres
President, Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund