Jewish Family & Children"s Service of Greater Monmouth County raised more than $100,000 at a 24th annual tribute dinner honoring Leslie Bloomfield and his son, Albert Bloomfield.

The dinner, which attracted several hundred attendees, took place on Oct. 11 at Jumping Brook Country Club in Neptune.

The Bloomfields, who are comanagers of the Bloomfield-Cooper Jewish Chapels in Ocean, Manalapan, and Lakewood, were honored for their service to Monmouth County"s Jewish community, said JF&CS executive director Paul Freedman.

"They were chosen for this honor because they are righteous men," Freedman told NJ Jewish News. "They are charitable men who know the true meaning of tzedaka."

The Bloomfields were presented with a piece of original sculpture designed by Canadian artist Boris Kramer.

The Bloomfields have been involved in JF&CS activities for years. Among other areas of service, they have volunteered to assemble and deliver holiday food baskets and, during the 1980s and 1990s, were volunteer members of the agency"s resettlement program that helped Jews from the former Soviet Union relocate to Monmouth County.

But it is the assistance they have provided when members of the Jewish community must bury a departed loved one that brought them into the "area of the righteous," Freedman said.

The Bloomfields were modest when the talk turned to their generosity.

"We"ve always been active in gift-giving," Leslie Bloomfield told NJ Jewish News. "But giving takes many forms. Over the years, Jewish families have come to us at times of great grief, and sometimes they were not able to afford everything that had to be done to lay their loved ones to rest. In those situations, we would take care of things for them. We have never turned anyone away, and we still carry out this practice. It"s a way in which Jews can help and care for each other. We"ve been privileged to be able to help in this way."

Albert Bloomfield said he and his father have never ignored an opportunity to show kindness and compassion.

"My parents always taught me about the value of charitable behavior," he told NJ Jewish News. "I"ve grown up with that concept, and it"s probably the most important lesson I"ve learned, whether in business or my personal life."

The JF&CS acknowledgement of their generosity almost seemed ironic, Albert Bloomfield added. "This is a great organization and it has helped so many people for many years," he said. "The fact that so many people came together to honor my father and me is a great honor for us.

"But the agency deserves the real credit for setting a great example of how Jews can help their own."

Leslie Bloomfield is a former JF&CS board member who lives in Ocean with Shirley, his wife of 41 years. They are congregants at Temple Beth El in Oakhurst and Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon. In addition to Albert, they have a daughter and son-in-law, Tobi and Ross Feldman of Scotch Plains, who are the parents of three sons.

Albert Bloomfield and his wife, Marnee, have been married for 12 years and have three sons. They attend Temple Beth Torah in Ocean, where they also reside. Albert Bloomfield has been a member of the federation board since 2005 and is a campaign cochair of the federation"s eastern outreach committee, which was formed several months ago to trigger interest in the organization among the Jewish population in the eastern part of the county (a similar federation committee also has been established in the county"s western region).

He also was a member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County July 2007 outreach mission to Ethiopia and Israel. (JF&CS is a beneficiary agency of the federation.)

"Working with the federation and JF&CS is a way to support Jewish causes that mean so much to my family," Albert Bloomfield said. "It"s a way to volunteer your time and spirit."

It is this outlook that has earned the Bloomfields the appreciation of their peers, said federation"s executive director Howard Gases.

"All the members of the Bloomfield family are attributes to our community," Gases told NJ Jewish News. "Paying tribute to them is also a way to pay tribute to JF&CS for their outstanding work in the Jewish community."

Additional information about the services provided by JF&CS is available on the agency"s Web site.