Meet Marty Shankle, our new Jewish Volunteer Network (JVN) chair! Marty shares with us why it's important to give your time, and the value of building community connections through volunteer work.

The Mandel Jewish Community Center’s longstanding Lunch Plus program has shifted operations during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to meet the needs of Greater Cleveland’s vulnerable senior population.

To prevent social distancing from becoming social isolation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic – especially among the elderly in Jewish Cleveland – the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Jewish Volunteer Network (JVN) quickly mobilized to create a multi-pronged program designed to touch base with these vulnerable community members to make sure they knew they were not alone or forgotten in this unsettled time.

While COVID-19 was causing plenty of damage felt in the present, it was also leaving a trail of destruction stretching into years forward.

Around 23 million Americans filed for unemployment in April 2020 – not including the millions of college students who have not entered the work force yet, many of whom planned on doing so this summer. Adam Hirsh, executive director of Hillel at Kent State University, a Federation beneficiary agency, recalls that it was “heartbreaking to hear of all of the cancelled jobs, internships, trips and other planned summer experiences” of the students he works with.

Irina Parkman emigrated Russia and came to Cleveland in order to escape persecution. She is able to still be connected to her Russian heritage through a partnership with the Cleveland Public Library.

Thank you to the many young leaders and their families for making an impact on Jewish Cleveland during the most recent YLDay of Caring Across Cleveland! Read what giving back to the community meant for YLD Board member, Julie Schneider; YLD Vice Chair, Abbie Pappas; and YLD Board Chair, Cameron Orlean:

Find out how Laura, Avi, Jakey, Noah, and Josh Wolf are making volunteering a family affair.

Join the Jewish Federation of Cleveland as we spread happiness, joy, and hope to vulnerable populations throughout the Jewish and general Cleveland community during the holiday season.