The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s 2027 Community Campaign kicked off on September 24 with a celebration at the Sandler Family Campus. It was an inspiring evening filled with personal stories and heartfelt testimonials from several of the Campaign’s beneficiary agencies. Each speaker shared how the Campaign helps sustain and strengthen the work of their organization. More than just statements about the impact of charitable giving, they were deeply personal stories with universal themes, all connected by one powerful message: These things are possible because the community comes together and acts AS ONE.
A mother’s perspective on one JCC program – Summer Camp
Zibby Robertson shared the joy of watching her child fall more deeply in love with being Jewish through the encouragement of summer camp counselors and the friendships formed with fellow campers.
“Top-quality Jewish summer camp, with counselors who care and fellow campers who become lifelong friends, is an experience that every Jewish child should be able to access and enjoy, AS ONE,” she said.
Building the future of Jewish leadership from Next Gen 757 to Nadiv
Danny Rubin spoke about his journey alongside his wife, Shikma.
After the couple decided to move back to Tidewater from Northern Virginia, they sought opportunities to connect, engage, and grow, and found ways to become involved individually, and later, as a family.
“Starting out in what was then the YAD program (now Next Gen 757) and moving gradually onto boards and committees, and eventually starting Nadiv, which has become a thriving young men’s fundraising division of the UJFT Campaign,” Rubin explained, “I am confident that the future of our Jewish community will be in good hands, because together, our Next Gen participants are learning and working. I’m proud to join with all of you in investing in and ensuring the future and future leadership of our Jewish community, AS ONE.”
Discovering a lasting Jewish connection
Amelia Portnoy, a local BBYO chapter president, shared how her BBYO experience unexpectedly deepened her connection to the Jewish community and strengthened her Jewish identity. As she looks ahead to high school graduation and college, she expressed her hope of continuing to nurture the relationships she had built and build new ones with young Jewish students on campus.
Amelia thanked Tidewater’s Jewish community for supporting the Federation’s Campaign, which helps fund BBYO and gives Jewish teens opportunities to learn, grow, and connect with one another. That support, she said, enables Jewish teens to “grow from their experiences and connect to Jewish values which have always sustained and kept us together, AS ONE.”
A school that feels like family
Jamie Kaufman Baker, an SIA mother and kindergarten teacher, shared her own lifelong connection to the Jewish community.
Her memories began with attending JCC preschool in Norfolk and continued through summers as a JCC camper, followed by roles as a CIT and counselor. Baker recalled something her friend and colleague, Elyssa Brinn, now director of the SIA Early Years program, once told her: “Every day, parents bring you their hearts (their children) and ask you to keep them beating until they return.”
Those words captured the kind of care Baker knew she would want for her own children. When it came time to choose a school for her family, SIA was the natural choice. Baker described the school as a village — a place that does more than keep children safe. It teaches, inspires curiosity, encourages questions, and instills the values that make a strong community. Perhaps most importantly, it teaches children that being part of a community means contributing, caring, and taking action. Because of the work being done today, Baker said, “our children can stand here 40 years from now with strong Jewish identities, a sense of spirituality, and a commitment to making the world a better place.”
She closed by thanking the community for its support of SIA, reminding everyone that “Strelitz is not just a school. It is a gift we received — and a gift we ALL have the opportunity to give forward, AS ONE.”
These were just a few of the stories shared during the evening, representing a cross-section of the many agencies and programs supported by the UJFT Community Campaign. Together, they illustrated the Campaign’s remarkable reach and the countless ways it touches lives throughout Tidewater’s Jewish community.
Jason Hoffman, UJFT Campaign chair, closed the evening with a call to action, encouraging everyone in attendance to reflect on the stories they had heard, consider how the Federation’s Community Campaign affects them personally, strengthens their families, and enriches the broader community; and to make their own personal pledge of support.
Each story served as a reminder that a collective impact is far greater than what can be accomplished individually. We are stronger together. We are one community. We act AS ONE.
To make a gift in support of the UJFT Community Campaign or learn more about how Campaign dollars are allocated and put to work, visit jewishva.org/donate or email Amy Zelenka at azelenka@ujft.org.
