Jonathan Rathsam and Aaron Shames.
An outpouring of community support made the 2013 Super Sunday phone-a-thon one of the most successful in recent years.
The annual event, held at the Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish community on Sunday, Jan. 27, raised more than $100,000 from more than 330 donors, many of whom were making gifts to the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater for the first time.
Amy Weinstein, director of the Young Adult Division of the UJFT, says the 10 young adult leaders who made up this year’s Super Sunday Steering Committee deserve credit for coming up with a serious theme, “I Invest Because…,” that resonated with the community, and for ensuring the phone-a-thon ran smoothly.
Super Sunday committee: Jen Groves, Fred Rose, Leah Katz, Aaron Shames, Eric Shapiro, Jennie Hurwitz, Jason Rosenberg, Jonathan Rathsam, Amy Weinstein, and Aaron Goldmeier.
Weinstein also emphasizes the important role played by the 115 community volunteers who made phone calls or otherwise helped that day. In this still lackluster economy, Weinstein says, it is notable that so many gave their time to reach out to their fellow Jewish community members, and that the community—in turn—opened their hearts and made gifts to the UJFT’s Annual Campaign.
“The success of Super Sunday is so much more than just the dollars raised. When you look at volunteers and donors, Super Sunday touched more than 450 people this year. When one day can reach nearly a third of our goal for total donors to this year’s Campaign, that’s huge,” says Weinstein.
“I think a big thank you is in order to all of the volunteers—and the donors. Super Sunday wouldn’t have been so successful without each of them,” Weinstein adds.
During the event, volunteers were fortified by the responses they were getting on the phone, as well as through the delivery of 20 kosher pizzas, generously donated by Pepe’s N.Y. Pizzeria, located in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood.
It is still possible to make a gift to Super Sunday; email pledges to pmalone@ujft.org, text INVEST to 51818, visit www.jewishva.org/supersunday and make gifts online, or mail a donation to UJFT, 5000 Corporate Woods Dr., Suite 200, Virginia Beach, VA 23462. Like the UJFT on Facebook to find the “I Invest Because” video and Super Sunday photos.
by Laine M. Rutherford