Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the JF&CS Annual Meeting on May 19th at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. The event is free and open to the public. This year’s theme focuses on how JF&CS builds on regional diversity and inclusion through providing innovative social services to the community.
This year we are excited to participate in an accompanying multimedia exhibit at the American Jewish Museum at the JCC highlighting the lives of refugees. The exhibit, aimed at educating and inspiring our community about the newly-arriving refugees who call Pittsburgh home, will be open during the event. JF&CS staff will complement this exhibit by being available to answer questions and share commentary about our work with refugees from more than 70 countries.
“The world is too small for us to live exclusively in cultural or ethnic or homogeneous silos any longer,” said Aryeh Sherman, president & CEO of JF&CS. “We have to make more effort to accept differences with respect, and to champion personal growth and achievement for all. We want to share what we’ve been doing to achieve more diversity and inclusion in our work with the community. And help keep this vital conversation going.”
From ensuring older adults remain connected to the community as they age, resettling newly-arriving refugees, helping young adults with mental health and autism diagnoses find and retain quality jobs, to offering meaningful volunteer opportunities for individuals with special needs, JF&CS’s work ensures that people of all backgrounds and abilities share in the region’ tremendous growth.
Also at the Annual Meeting, we will present the 2016 Dr. Howard A. Mermelstein Leadership Award to Dr. Matthew A. Keller, a JF&CS board member since 2008. This annual award honors a board member who has displayed outstanding leadership and commitment to the greater Pittsburgh community and dedication to the mission of JF&CS of supporting people through life’s changes and challenges.
Dr. Keller’s leadership roles at JF&CS include co-chairing the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry Relocation Committee and its Endowment Campaign. He is the JF&CS lay leader representative on an upcoming community-wide disability inclusion certification project. On the board, he serves as the At-Large Officer. He has been extremely active in the community with other organizations as well, often as an advocate for expanding inclusion policies and opportunities.
Though the JF&CS Annual Meeting is free and open to the community, reservations are requested. The Annual Meeting reception begins at 6:30 with an appetizer & dessert buffet, (kosher dietary laws observed) and live music featuring the band Machete Kisumontao (a Puerto Rican band from Pittsburgh that blends Puerto Rican rhythms and Afro-Latino beats), and the evening’s program begins at 7:00 pm. Please RSVP by calling 412-586-3777 or emailing edalfen@jfcspgh.org.