Jewish Scholarship Service of Pittsburgh (JSS) celebrated the annual “Disbursement of the Checks” event last week with dozens of scholarship recipients, their very proud parents — and ice cream sundaes for all! This year’s figures are impressive: more than $500,000 was distributed to nearly 170 students!
Take a look at our JSS 2019 slide show!
Amy Spear, JSS Check Distribution Chair, acted as emcee.
“JSS was established as a need-based scholarship program which coordinates the efforts of over 100 organizations, agencies and scholarship endowment funds to provide scholarships to local Jewish students enrolled in accredited institutions of higher education,” she told the full house crowd. “Each of you is going to school with the Pittsburgh Jewish community dedicated to supporting you and your continued education.”
In a video shown at the event, several students spoke of how JSS had helped them finish their education, achieve career goals, and fulfill long held dreams.
Other speakers included Linda Joshowitz, Assistant Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, and Jordan Golin, President and CEO of JFCS. The Federation is responsible for raising the funds; JFCS administers the program.
“The Jewish Federation is committed to creating a thriving, vibrant and engaged Jewish community by raising and allocating funds and building community locally, in Israel and around the world,” said Linda.
Jordan offered the closing remarks and his sincere congratulations on this momentous achievement. He thanked the extensive work of JSS staff Alayne Lowenberger and Dana Himmel.
“I look around this room and I see a room of our future doctors, lawyers, teachers, social workers, engineers, leaders and change-makers,” he said. “You all are going to 79 schools in 52 cities next year. We are so proud of each of you.”
He also acknowledged the work of the Jewish Scholarship Service committee for the countless hours they spent reading through applications, evaluating financial need, field of study, school attending and Jewish and community involvement to arrive at the final list of recipients.
Applications for school year 2020-2021 open in November. Visit our website for more information and eligibility requirements.