Since 1967, the Jewish Endowment Foundation has continuously served our Greater New Orleans Jewish community by assisting donors from all walks of life in carrying out their charitable goals and by attracting and administering charitable endowments. The Endowment now includes Baton Rouge, Monroe, and the entire state of Louisiana. As we move into our forty-first year, JEF has been renamed the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana to more accurately reflect the geographical area we cover. Remarkably, in our fortieth anniversary year, we reached the milestone of $40 million under management.
According to our 2007 audit, we held $42 million in total assets. For four decades, JEF has funded programs that make a difference in our community, our state, our nation, and in Israel. This past year has been no exception. In fact, we made more targeted donations to help our local organizations as they continue to recover from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
The past two years have been primarily years of growth, but in the last few months of 2008 there has been a level of volatility in the stock market that we have never previously experienced. This volatility has deeply affected our overall assets as well as our General Fund. Our General Fund is a key player in the recovery and renewal of our Greater New Orleans Jewish community after Katrina. This is the only fund that enables us to provide financial support so our Jewish institutions can remain active and solvent. It is currently at a low of $3.1 million, a figure that we have not seen since 1995. This could limit our ability to provide funding in the future.
Over the past five years, we have expended $3.8 million from our General Fund for many necessary projects, including a $1 million grant to support the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans after Katrina and $1 million for the Goldring-Woldenberg Jewish Community Campus Capital Campaign. Now it is critical that we rebuild our General Fund. Prior to the past few months, our General Fund stood at over $5 million. That is the minimum amount we must have in order to help take care of our Jewish community and the important organizations and agencies that we support such as Federation, Jewish Family Service, the Jewish Community Center, the New Orleans Jewish Day School, and Hillel, to name only a few. In addition, we must have sufficient funds for unforeseen emergencies, which we know can occur.
The following new funds have been opened since our last Annual Report through November 30, 2008: Donor Advised Funds: Jay and Avery Corenswet; Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana Tzedakah Funders Network; Jewish Family Service Financial Assistance; Dashka Roth Lehmann; Lauren, Jonathan and Saundra Katz Levy; Levy Family; B’nai Maimonides Funds: Jennifer Sarah Bart; Michael A. Bassham; David Jules Cahn; Samuel Polmer Fischman; Rebecca Fisher; Jessica Sarah Gaethe, Benjamin Gothard; Miles Hendler; Samantha G. Gross Hertzig; Matthew Todd Kusnick; Jordan Adam Lieberman; Mindy Erin Lieberman; Lily Rebecca Lupin; Zachary Melchiode; Laura M. Nussdorf; Daniel Marc Olivier; David Nick Olivier; Amos Yoseph Remer; Rachel Cohen Rosenzweig; Missy Elizabeth Ross; Eli Sterbcow; William Sweet; Tova Leah Weiss; Margaret Willis; Young Philanthropist Funds: Manya-Jean Gitter; Blakely Layne Rippner; Mallory Newman Rippner; Mason Samuel Toporek; Designated Funds: Jewish Community Center Feil Family Endowment; Jewish Community Center Building; Hugo Kahn; Phyllis S. Stern; Elaine and Bernard Van der Linden; Carol B. Wise; Charitable Gift Annuities: Mildred and I. Jay Krieger; Mollye and William Smolkin; Liselotte Levy Weil #2.
We are living in extraordinary times. Each member of our Jewish community has an opportunity to help provide for whatever lies ahead. We know that every member of our Jewish community has been affected by the economic turmoil facing us today. We do respectfully ask that you consider making a gift to JEF’s General Fund, opening a new fund, or making a bequest in order to assist us in carrying out our mission. No gift is too small; every contribution is appreciated. By leaving a legacy to or through the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, you join with us in securing the future for generations to come.
Please call Sandy Levy at 504-524-4559 to find out how you can plant for future generations as our ancestors so wisely planted for us.
Joyce S. Pulitzer
President
Saundra K. Levy
Executive Director