by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

February 17, 2009

Thanks to approximately $500,000 in last-minute campaign donations, the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County has been able to shelve plans to impose a $300,000 cut on programs and beneficiary agency activity in 2009.

But despite the recent donations, most beneficiary agencies and programmatic activities will still receive a reduction in their 2009 allocations, according to federation executive director Howard Gases.

“We are elated that the 2008 campaign reached this new level so we could make allocations to so many wonderful programs here and overseas,” said federation board member Albert Bloomfield of Ocean, who along with board member Jonathan Barofsky, also an Ocean resident, is the 2009 allocations committee cochair. “The committee was facing a lot of difficult decisions before the campaign made it to the new level.”

Local beneficiary agencies that incurred allocation reductions include the Jewish Community Centers in Deal and Manalapan, Rutgers Hillel in New Brunswick, Hillel Yeshiva in Ocean, and Solomon Schechter Academy in Howell. These cuts total approximately $145,000, or 22 percent, according to Gases.

But the federation’s redistribution of allocation funds has enabled it to add three programs to its allocation list: The Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County in Freehold Township; the Friendship Circle in Manalapan, an organization that matches teenage volunteers with special-needs children; and the PJ Library in West Springfield, Mass., a nationwide Jewish literacy and outreach program for children ages six months to six years. Allocation amounts for these programs totals $42,000. (The federation’s new funding model funds programs, rather than agencies.)

“Because of the looming economic situation in the United States, none of the above agencies and programs that get allocation funding from the federation received an increase for 2009,” said Gases. “Some of the money was decreased and some allocations stayed the same. But the board felt this was the only way to ensure the betterment of the Jewish community in the future.”

Because the economic crisis is expected to trigger an increase in those who seek assistance this year from the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Monmouth County, the federation also has created an emergency fund for the agency, which still received a reduction in allocation funds for some of its programmatic activities, Gases said.

Approximately $34,000 was cut from allocations to some of the Israel-based programs to which the federation allocates funds. Included in this group are AMCHA, a Jerusalem-based organization for Holocaust survivors; the Yemin Orde Youth Village in Haifa; and the Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies, which has facilities throughout Israel.

‘Careful evaluation’

The last-minute gifts came as a relief to planners. But even after the additional donations came through, the board and allocation subcommittees proceeded with caution, Bloomfield said.

“We spent a lot of time carefully evaluating the different programs,” he said. “Among other considerations, the board wanted to make sure that money would be available for missions so the federation can observe the status of the programs it helps fund in Israel.”

The federation’s 2007 campaign raised $2.3 million, which was $300,000 more than was projected for 2008. By the end of last year, and before the arrival of the recent donations, the 2008 campaign totaled $1.8 million. The federation needed at least a $2 million 2008 budget to avoid serious program cutbacks, said Gases.

Since receiving the additional donations in January, the federation has placed $400,000 in a reserve fund to guard against future economic crises, Gases said.

“We are extremely concerned about the national economic downturn, and 2009 is likely to be a very challenging year,” he said. “We may need money for emergencies, and we have to be able to continue to provide vital services without interruption. We must be prepared.”

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