News Archive: March 2010

March 17, 2010: HCK Young People Give Back to their Community

The children of Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Campus (HCK) made a difference in their neighborhood when they were inspired to participate in an annual walk-a-thon and raised $1,500 for the Hawthorne Volunteer Fire Department. Read the full story as reported in the Westchester Herald March 22 edition: “JBFCS’ Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Campus Recognizes Hawthorne Fire Department.“

On March 17th, JBFCS Westchester Divisional Board Chair and Vice President, Board of Trustees, David Everett, JBFCS Deputy Executive Director, Lenny Rodriguez and HCK Union Free School District Superintendent, Mark Silverstein donated the money raised to the fire department.

L-R: Sal Pennelle, Hawthorne Fire Department President and Commissioner; Lenny Rodriguez, JBFCS Deputy Executive Director; David Everett, JBFCS Westchester Divisional Board Chair and Vice President, Board of Trustees	Westchester Herald article...

This inspirational effort in charitable giving is an outstanding example of how the youth of HCK are bonding with their community and working to advance their knowledge of new vocational opportunities.

March 8, 2010: Annual Spring Benefit will Honor John A Herrmann, David F. Everett & Russell Simmons on April 21, 2010

On April 21st, our Annual Spring Benefit — Made In New York — will honor: John A Herrmann, Chairman, JBFCS Board of Trustees; David F. Everett, JBFCS Vice President; & Russell Simmons, Co-Founder, Def Jam; Co-Founder, Foundation for Ethnic Understanding; Creator of fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and American Classics. (Read a media alert about a recent program visit where Russell Simmons and Rabbi Marc Schneier toured two JBFCS facilities and met with adolescents served by these institutions.)

Honorees: John A Herrmann, Russell Simmons & David F. Everett	Download the invitation...

This special event will be held at New York City’s Guastavino’s and feature a cocktail reception and seated dinner with proceeds benefitting JBFCS’ 175 community-based programs, residential facilities, and day-treatment centers that annually serve over 65,000 New Yorkers-in-need of all faiths, races and cultures.

JBFCS has been a trailblazer in treating social problems for more than a century. Today, we are one of the nation’s largest and most respected nonprofit mental health and social service agencies — every night, over 1,000 individuals call a JBFCS residence “home.” Our work is built upon a network of over 2,200 professionals, including social workers, licensed psychologists, and psychiatrists, as well as a cadre of clinical support personnel in continuing day treatment and residential treatment centers, and a corps of over 2,200 dedicated volunteers.

We provide a comprehensive network of mental health and social services to promote well-being, resilience and self-sufficiency for individuals and families in need in the New York metropolitan area.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Cocktails, 6:30PM
Dinner, 7:30PM

WHERE: Guastavino’s
409 East 59th Street (at First Avenue)
New York City

For information about the Spring Benefit, contact [email protected]

Press/Media contact: Lawlor Media Group, (212) 967-6900, or [email protected]

March 3, 2010: Job Fair Aids Those in Need In Jewish Community

This NY1 news feature Local Job Fair Aids Those In Need in Jewish Community reports on the JBFCS Connect to Care program.

More than 700 participants turned out March 3rd for the Manhattan Job Fair that JBFCS coordinated for UJA-Federation of New York’s Connect to Care initiative. The Fair was the culmination of many months of outreach work with synagogues and with employers. It was designed to help the Jewish Community face the enormous crush of a faltering economy.

For many people, the Fair brought hope for their future and reasons to return home with new optimism, and even the possibility of a job.

According to C.R., a woman from Brooklyn, NY:

“I want to take a moment to thank Connect to Care for making it possible for me to attend this fantastic Job Fair yesterday in Manhattan... [A]s a client...who had no idea what Connect to Care could do to help the unemployed and otherwise economy-afflicted... the Job Fair was packed with not only job seekers but with companies large and small. Being able to say ‘I can do that’... just a wonderful way to job hunt.”

As Jonathan Katz, JBFCS Manhattan Manager of Connect to Care, puts it, “When I saw the hundreds of people lined up for our Job Fair today, I knew we had done something good for New York City. Individuals from the most vulnerable to those living successful and productive lives were there in the hopes of improving things for themselves and their families. We feel a great responsibility to help them all during these tough times. The Job Fair was one important part of our Connect to Care effort to do so.”

JBFCS was chosen by UJA-Federation to be the lead agency for Connect to Care’s Manhattan Region, which includes Riverdale and Brownstone Brooklyn. As lead agency, our role has been to identify people who have experienced job loss or savings loss. We coordinated the needed special services, such as employment or financial counseling, offered by our partner agencies JCC, FEGS and NYLAG (New York Legal Assistance Group), and reached out to the synagogues and JCCs to provide community workshops and events such as the Job Fair.