A Season of Giving and Appreciation at the Los Angeles Jewish Home

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A Season of Giving and Appreciation at the Los Angeles Jewish Home

Jan 6, 2021

December has always been a time when the community expresses their support for the Los Angeles Jewish Home. As the holiday season begins and the year draws to a close, people demonstrate their love and appreciation for the Home and its residents. Despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, that tradition of community support for the Jewish Home remained strong all season long. From across Los Angeles and beyond, men, women, and children expressed admiration and appreciation for the seniors at the Home in a broad range of heartfelt and creative ways.

Our #NotesofLove campaign, which encourages people of all ages to send notes, greeting cards, and artwork to the residents, continued with a focus on delivering holiday cheer and wishes for the New Year. The warm greetings brightened the days of our seniors, who have been required to curtail social interactions for months now due to the pandemic. We also received thoughtful thank you notes expressing appreciation to Jewish Home caregivers for their hard work.

In addition to sending notes, many community members have increased their charitable giving to the Home at a time when funding continues to be in critical need. While there is a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel now that vaccines have been approved, and immunizations have started, the need to follow all of the protective measures we have in place will continue for many months. This means the continuation of added costs for items including personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essential safety signage and supplies as well as increased staffing. Commenting on the community's generosity, Andy Berman, chairman of the Jewish Home Board of Directors, says, "We want to sincerely thank all of those supporters who have been so kind and generous and let them know that their donations have played an essential role in helping to keep our residents and staff safe and healthy which is first and foremost our main priority."

Jewish Home donors have always given in many different, creative, and unexpected ways, and this year was no exception. We were particularly gratified to learn that a legend from the entertainment industry would be bringing extra cheer to our residents this holiday season. The family of late actor, director, comedian, and author Carl Reiner reached out to the Home to express interest in donating thousands of books (written by Reiner) as gifts to each Jewish Home resident. With titles including I Remember Radio; Approaching Ninety-Six, the Films I Love Viewing and Loved Doing; How to Live Forever; and Scrunched Photos of Celebrities (which, as advertised, includes photos of scrunched up celebrity faces), the books were a huge hit with the residents, who have had to manage through months of being isolated from their routine group activities.

"The level of generosity and support the Jewish Home has received from donors—whether they made gifts on Giving Tuesday, contributed through online appeals, or responded to our direct mail outreach—during these extraordinary circumstances has been deeply appreciated by all of us here at the Home," says Steven Klappholz, vice president of the Jewish Home Foundation. "As we enter 2021, we are filled with gratitude and hope for a bright future for all the cherished seniors entrusted to our care."

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