Karen Donn’s Love for Jewish Community Inspires her Generosity
I was born in Hartford and grew up in Cheshire where my parents were founding members of Temple Beth David. My parents were married in 1961 (60 years and still going strong!) by the legendary Rabbi Silverman of the Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford
We engage families to explore their shared values and charitable interests. We helped Richard and Cyral Sheldon establish the Sheldon Family Advised Fund. Richard and Cyral’s children, Scott, Sloane and Stacy, share their experiences in selecting charities and making annual grants from their family fund.
When the world seems chaotic, Sean White finds solace by looking at a photo of his grandmother making matzah balls. This is Sean’s most treasured memory of Miriam Toubman. More than 30 years ago, the Toubmans began a tradition of family philanthropy to honor their father and grandfather, William, who passed away at age 52.
We are always more powerful when we come together as a community to respond to a crisis. That’s why the Foundation and the Jewish Federation established the Jewish Hartford Rapid Relief and Recovery Fund (RRR Fund) in March 2020 to help people, agencies and synagogues impacted by COVID-19. The Foundation and Federation seeded the RRR Fund with $150,000. In the first months of the crisis, staff from the Foundation, Federation and Jewish Family Services (JFS) procured and delivered food each week, including hot kosher meals for Passover, plus Dignity Grows hygiene products to 125 Jewish families in need in 19 towns in Greater Hartford. The food program was eventually transitioned to JFS, which is doing a tremendous job serving the community’s needs.
Donor Advised Fund holders are supporting Music Matters, a first of its kind program for underserved children in Hartford. Hosted the by Charter Oak Cultural Center’s Youth Institute, students in grades 4 and 5 enjoy free private and ensemble instrumental music instruction in a comprehensive afterschool program four days a week, as well as food and homework assistance.
Frank Kavitsky left a legacy gift decades ago that has provided remarkable support every year. His legacy will continue far into the future, since he entrusted the Foundation with a planned gift before he passed away in 1998. Since he left this gift of $1.2 million, the fund has granted out nearly $1 million to the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, and his fund’s balance is $1.5 million — even larger than his original gift. That is endowment in action!
WEST HARTFORD, CT (December 14, 2020) – Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford have distributed more than $600,000 in grants to the people, agencies, and synagogues of Greater Hartford’s Jewish community experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic. The grants were made through the Jewish Hartford Rapid Relief and Recovery Fund (RRR Fund), a joint initiative created in March 2020 in response to the pandemic.
November 13, 2020 – ‘Tis the season of thanks and giving in West Hartford’s Jewish community.
When the Jewish Association for Community Living (JCL), a nonprofit that assists people with developmental disabilities, needed to purchase a new wheelchair van, philanthropists granted its wish through their funds held at the Jewish Community Foundation.
How have the Jewish people survived for thousands of years? Dr. Jeffrey Rudikoff pondered this question 55 years ago after his first child was born. “With a tiny minority dispersed throughout the world, Judaism should have vanished, but
Karen Binkhorst’s first gift to the Foundation’s Lillian Fund was in honor of her mother for Mother’s Day. “I made donations in my mother’s name for several years, but I wanted to be more involved in philanthropy and give back to a community that has given so much to me,” explains Karen, a life-long resident of West Hartford.
Karen eventually joined the Lillian Fund Committee, offering her time, talent and passion to help women and children in need. “I want to change lives for the better and to empower as many privileged people as possible to help nonprofits,” she says, “and the Lillian Fund is a beautiful way to do this.”
August 19, 2020 — Five local nonprofits will receive grants this month to support social justice, help people impacted by COVID-19, and provide assistance to domestic violence survivors from two giving circles at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford: JewGood Hartford for young professionals, and the Lillian Fund for women.
March 26, 2020 – Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford today are launching the Jewish Hartford Rapid Relief and Recovery Fund (the Fund), a joint initiative providing Jewish community organizations with the resources required to address emergency social service and organizational needs caused by COVID-19.