Top, Gov. Jon Corzine chats with, from left, Super Sunday cochairs Jean Mandell and Jeff Handsman and Merle Kalishman, chair of the UJC MetroWest Community Relations Committee. Bottom, volunteers work the phones seeking pledges.
Photos by Robert Wiener
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez helps children build a model of the ancient city of Jerusalem out of Lego blocks.
More than 130 teens filled the phone bank room during the fourth session, including groups from Central Hebrew High School, the Iris Teen Tzedakah Program, the MetroWest Diller Teen Fellows program, the JCC MetroWest Mifgash program, USY chapters from Morris Plains and Livingston, and a sorority from Montclair State University.
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December 11, 2008
The MetroWest UJA Campaign raised $1.6 million and secured 2,601 gifts through its Dec. 7 Super Sunday phonathon, pleasing organizers who were unsure what impact a grim economy would have on local donations.
“We did surprisingly well,” said Jeff Handsman of West Orange, a cochair of the daylong fund-raising event that doubles as a celebration of Jewish communal voluntarism. “Everybody was crying the blues and saying, ‘We’re not going to get $1.6 million,’ and we got $1.6 million. That was great.”
Cochair Ron Silbermann of Randolph called it “an amazing day.
“You need to calibrate your expectations,” Silbermann said. “Given the economic factors, it was not disappointing. On the contrary, I thought the day was quite exciting.
“The only disappointment I had was talking to donors on the phone who expressed their own economic difficulties. I told every donor, ‘I want you to be proud of what you give. So even if you give less because of extenuating circumstances, be proud of your gift,” he said.
Jean Mandell of Lake Hopatcong was the third cochair.
While the main business of the day was dialing prospective donors and asking for their pledges to the annual UJA campaign of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, Super Sunday also served as a festival of Jewish giving and involvement.
Politicians like U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Gov. Jon Corzine spent some time with the volunteers at the Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus in Whippany, while dozens of children and their parents constructed a model of Jerusalem’s Old City out of Lego building blocks.
Others contributed to a blood drive and a canned food drive, and shopped for wares from Israeli vendors.
The two cochairs said the emotional highlight of the fund-raiser came in its closing hours, as college and high school students took over the phone banks.
“As soon as the teens came in and began to make calls, there was a palpable feeling of energy,” said Handsman.
“It was awesome,” said Silbermann. “That’s our future.”
‘Essential mitzva’
Menendez sounded enthusiastic when he arrived earlier in the day.
“This is a day when the Jewish community comes together as one people, and the work getting done here this year is probably more important than it was before,” he said.
Asked what he would tell people who cannot afford to contribute, the senator said, “I understand it’s a tough year, but we are asking them to look into their own hearts and see what they can do.”
Corzine told NJ Jewish News, “A lot of families are struggling — some overtly, some more privately.”
The governor said he would remind those who could not afford to give that “charity should always be framed in what is possible in an individual’s heart. Everybody can give something. Sometimes it is talent and time, not resources. You ask people to participate in lots of different ways.”
Later, at the podium, Corzine congratulated “the people of MetroWest for the mitzva you are performing that is essential at this particular moment in our history. This is a challenging time for a lot of people, and you are doing a lot to help underwrite those individuals with your work here today.”
U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Dist. 11) said it is “a historic responsibility for people to support their religion and needy people and charities within that religion. At a time when the world is in crisis, a lot of families need financial support.”
UJC MetroWest leaders declined to compare this year’s figures with last year’s, saying last year’s totals included larger gifts that are not yet included in this year’s tally.
“I just hope everybody who has not made a pledge yet steps up and does,” said Merle Kalishman of Livingston, chair of the MetroWest Community Relations Committee. “People have to understand — whether it be UJA or their synagogue or their alumni association or whatever — they should keep their names on the list. People can’t be embarrassed if last year they could give $1,000 and this year they could only give $50. Give the $50.”
Jack Schrier of Mendham, chair of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders, said, “This is not the usual kind of call for funds. This is an investment in the people of Morris County, the people of Essex County, the people of New Jersey. When people tell me they have no money, I tell them I understand. We are all being affected.”
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