Guest speaker Judi Franco, second from right, is joined by Main Event cochairs, from left, Irene Linet, Mindy Shapiro, and Judy Steinweis.
Photos by Debra Rubin
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May 12, 2009
The 110 women who attended the annual Main Event of the Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County proved they “get it.”
They “got it” when they made their pledges to federation. And they proved they “got it” when they pledged an additional $8,000 during the May 5 event held at Congregation B’nai Tikvah in North Brunswick at a time when money is tight and the needs of the Jewish community are being stretched by the economic downturn.
Wendy Friedman of East Brunswick proved she “got it” when she became a new Pomegranate, signifying a gift of at least $1,500.
“We have women who have actually increased their pledges over last year,” said Women’s Philanthropy director Audrey Napchen, who said the women’s campaign was “holding its own” even in the bleak economy, taking in more than $1 million so far this year.
The event featured vendors selling everything from pocketbooks to jewelry, picture frames to belts, as waiters walked among the browsing women, offering hors d’oeuvres.
One of the evening’s three cochairs, Irene Linet of Monroe, has become an enthusiastic supporter of federation and the work it does to assist the Jewish community locally, nationally, and overseas.
A former fund-raiser for the Anti-Defamation League, Linet said she “understands how important it is to help the Jewish community, especially now with the downturn in the economy.”
Judy Steinweis of East Brunswick, another cochair, gestured around the room and said, “Seeing all these women here sends a powerful message that these are women who get it.”
Cochair Mindy Shapiro of East Brunswick said, “I do this to give back.”
Lori Klinghoffer, United Jewish Communities national Women’s Philanthropy chair, reminded the women that “Jews around the world are counting on us.”
“They don’t know who you are, but each of you knows what you do,” she said.
Guest speaker Judi Franco, who was cohost of the Dennis and Judi morning talk show on New Jersey 101.5 FM for 11 years, said as a modern Orthodox woman pursuing her dream job, she believed she had it all. “After all I was doing really important work,” she said. “God wanted me to do this work.”
New Pomegranate Wendy Friedman, left, with Sandy Lenger, campaign cochair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County and a national Women’s Philanthropy board member.
However, she said, she also missed out on much of the lives of her four children as she pursued her career. She went on to explain that several life-changing situations — her husband’s lung cancer, her daughter’s debilitating surgeries, and the growing needs of a special-needs son — finally altered her thinking.
“My dream started to unravel,” said Franco. She made the difficult decision to leave the station and her career after 18 years as she reprioritized her needs to include “a lot less shoes and a lot more faith.”
At a time when others are unwillingly becoming unemployed, Franco said, she willingly left her radio job about six months ago.
“I wasn’t afraid and am still not afraid to be unemployed,” said Franco. “I changed into the kind of person that didn’t need everything.”
Allowing “spiritual fulfillment to take the place of material fulfillment,” Franco said, she began a spiritual journey. “Instead of one-and-a-half hours at Freehold Mall, I’d try to go one-and-a-half hours without saying lashon hara,” or malicious gossip, she said. “I almost felt selfish it began to feel so good…. When you do something for Hashem you feel like a million bucks, or maybe in this economy you feel like 600,000 bucks.”
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