Golfers raised about $20,000 toward the purchase of a new van to transport seniors to programs at the Jewish Family & Vocational Service of Middlesex County.

The annual Seymour St. Lifer Golf Outing of the Oscar and Ella Wilf Campus for Senior Living was held Sept. 10 at the Royce Brook Golf Club in Hillsborough.

The van is being jointly purchased by the campus foundation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County. It may also be used to transport seniors from the Wilf campus in Somerset to JFVS programs, which is assuming the costs of operating and maintaining the vehicle.

The van will help otherwise homebound seniors attend JFVS programs, especially Elderday at Edison for those with Alzheimer's disease and other related disorders, and CAMEO (Challenging Adult Minds and Energizing Ourselves), a program for alert adults with physical disabilities. The services are designed for socially isolated and cognitively impaired adults.

"It's a great first step toward the purchase of the van," said Ira Dunst, president of the campus foundation.

At the awards ceremony at the golf outing, organizers presented the Seymour St. Lifer Community Leadership Award to Ed Guttenplan of Highland Park. The Art Mandel Young Leadership Award was given to David Scott of Princeton.

The St. Lifer Award is given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding vision, commitment, and hard work. Guttenplan, cofounder and managing shareholder of the accounting firm of Wilkin & Guttenplan, is past president of Highland Park Conservative Temple-Congregation Anshe Emeth and of Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley in East Brunswick and immediate past president of the Jewish Home and Healthcare Center, now known as Regency Heritage and formerly known also as the Central New Jersey Jewish Home for the Aged.

The Mandel award is given to an individual committed to promoting and strengthening the Jewish community. Scott, an anesthesiologist at the University Medical Center at Princeton, was the first full-time sports medicine physician for the Rutgers University Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Following in the footsteps of his father, Daniel — a board member for many years — Scott joined the home's board in 1999 and has since been active on a number of committees.

The nursing home was sold in March to Regency Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers, a for-profit company, resulting in the name change.

The Wilf campus also includes the Lena and David T. Wilentz Senior Residence, the Martin and Edith Stein Assisted Living Residence, and the Stein Hospice.

"Transportation is one of the greatest needs when we talk about senior services," said federation president Lee Livingston. "The federation was pleased to have partners in this project that will improve the quality of life for our growing senior population."

In presenting the awards, Wilf campus president Gerald Staffin called the home's previous financial losses "unsustainable" and added, "I am pleased to report that all of these facilities are operating at a very high standard of performance, and each is in a strong financial condition."

Staffin said that now that the home has established financial stability, it was undertaking an assessment of unmet needs for seniors in the community with other organizations, including JFVS.