Reviewed Agencies 2023-2024
8th Grade - Local Social Service
The Center for Jewish Life – Princeton Hillel (CJL) is the leading Jewish student organization at Princeton University, committed to building a strong and vibrant Jewish community on campus. Our diverse programs aim to engage every Jewish student, regardless of their Jewish backgrounds, depth of prior Jewish experiences, or connections to Judaism. We connect with over 80% of Jewish students at Princeton through our nationally recognized educational programs, Shabbat and Holiday celebrations, Israel activities, leadership development programs, and social justice initiatives.
Founded in 1939, Greenwood House is a comprehensive provider
of wellness-focused senior lifestyles and health care services that include
skilled nursing care, rehabilitation services, assisted living, home care
services, and hospice care. Greenwood House has provided
services to the most vulnerable elderly population, offering exceptional
services to community members needing geriatric care. Greenwood House is a
non-sectarian organization but operates in keeping with Jewish heritage's rich
traditions and values.
The Greater Trenton Jewish Cemetery Project (GTJCP) has assumed responsibility for the maintenance of six orphaned* Jewish cemeteries in Hamilton Township, dating from 1857 to the present; today, we care for more than 2,100 gravesites, restoring stones that have been toppled, repairing walkways, maintaining and securing the cemeteries with appropriate fencing, and groundskeeping.
The cost of maintaining the grounds is borne entirely by tzedakah donations from present and former residents of the Greater Trenton/Princeton-Mercer-Bucks community and their descendants. Repairs are made based on need, regardless of whose grave it is; in almost every case, we do not know or contact the families whose graves are being restored.
While groundskeeping is an ongoing need, and gravestones needing restoration are constantly identified (gravity is our enemy!), our focus has broadened to include education for youth and famiies about genealogy, Jewish burial traditions and practices, and the history of Jews in our region.
*Orphaned: Essentially, abandoned due to the dissolution of the synagogue(s) or burial societies that had founded them.
The
JCC Abrams Camp has celebrated serving the greater Princeton Mercer Bucks
Community for 63 years and was founded on and celebrates the principles of
Jewish values, culture, and traditions. Our goal is to provide a safe,
fun-filled camp experience for youth and teens from Pre-K through 10th grade
which promotes integrity, self-esteem, positive values, and good sportsmanship.
Our belief is that campers of all ages and diverse backgrounds will walk away
from their summer experience with their lives significantly impacted from
learning life-skills and making new friends while strengthening their Jewish
connection in a warm, safe, and nurturing environment. This summer experience
helps build tomorrow’s future generation of Jewish Leaders.
The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Mercer is the central
address for helping families, individuals and institutions achieve their
philanthropic goals through endowments, Custodial funds and
donor advised funds. The Foundation has scholarship funds for various
purposes and the Book Award program is one of the most important
Scholarship endeavors.
Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Mercer County (JFCS) is dedicated to strengthening families and individuals by providing a wide range of social services and programs, including therapy, information and referral, support, education and advocacy. Since 1999, JFCS has operated a Kosher food pantry, serving all those in need in Mercer County and parts of Bucks County, regardless of religion, ethnicity or cultural background. The JFCS food pantries enable us to perform the mitzvah of Ma’achil Re’evim – feeding the hungry.
The Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks has served the local Jewish community for more than 90 years. During that time, we have developed the insight and experience to support the needs of our community. We strategically leverage our expertise and work closely with our partners, lay leaders and experts to develop and fund innovative programs to make a positively meaningful impact in our Jewish community.
9th Grade - National Social Service
3GNY is an educational non-profit organization founded by grandchildren
of Holocaust survivors. As a living link, we preserve the legacies and
the lessons of the Holocaust. Our mission is to educate diverse
communities about the perils of intolerance and to provide a supportive
forum for the descendants of survivors.
DOROT’s mission is to alleviate social isolation among older adults and provide services to help them live independently as valued members of the community. We serve the Jewish and wider community, bringing the generations together in a mutually beneficial partnership of elders, volunteers, and professionals. Our programs bring critical resources to vulnerable older adults by offering services specific to their needs and interests.
Educational Alliance brings together and partners with diverse
communities in Lower Manhattan, offering individuals and families
high-quality, multi-generational programs and services that enhance
their well-being and socioeconomic opportunities.
Met Council is America’s largest Jewish charity dedicated to serving the needy. Met Council’s ten different departments are staffed by experts who helped over 305,000 clients in 2020 and continuously advocate on behalf of all needy New Yorkers. Our holistic programs range from 100% affordable housing at 20 locations to our award-winning family violence program to comprehensive Holocaust survivor assistance to senior programming to crisis intervention to the largest free kosher food distribution program in the world. Our network of 101 food pantries, 20 affordable housing sites, and 15 JCCs provide services directly in neighborhoods across New York.
NCJW/Essex a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who
turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW
strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women,
children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and
freedoms.
10th Grade - Jewish Arts & Culture
The mission of The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project is to interpret and designate places important to the Borscht Belt’s vibrant history and to consider its impact on American Jewish life, the legacy of the Catskills, New York State history, American culture and entertainment, and the ways in which the era’s rich history is enduringly present and woven into the very fiber of the region. Whether on or near sites of significant events or historic properties the Marker Project’s efforts strive towards selecting locations significant to the local, state, and national history in towns and villages scattered across the Sullivan and Ulster County landscape.
The mission of the Museum at Eldridge Street is to restore and preserve the National Historic Landmark Eldridge Street Synagogue and to provide cultural and educational programs that serve a broad public.
Opened in 1887, the synagogue is the first great house of worship built in America by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Today, it is the only remaining marker of the great wave of Jewish migration to the Lower East Side that is open to a broad public who wish to visit Jewish New York. This magnificent building underwent a 20-year, $200 million restoration and was meticulously restored in 2007. Unlike traditional museums, the Museum at Eldridge Street is a living space that offers an authentic window into a heritage that continues to evolve and be celebrated within our space. Exhibits, tours, public programs, and education tell the story of Jewish immigrant life, explore architecture and historic preservation, inspire reflection on cultural continuity, and foster collaboration and exchange between people of all faiths, heritages, and interests.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. Our mission is educating people of all ages and backgrounds about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust. Our collections contain almost 40,000 objects, photographs, documentary films, and survivor testimonies. They are highlighted in our permanent exhibition The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do, which opened in July 2022. Our first exhibition for children, Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark, opened in October 2023. We host over 100 public programs per year, including signature events such as the New York Jewish Book Festival and the Annual Gathering of Remembrance, our Yom HaShoah tribute. Over the past year, the Museum served 100,000 people, including 35,000 school children.
The Tenement Museum’s mission is to elevate the stories of immigrants, migrants, and refugees to inspire connections between past and present and promote an inclusive, expansive, and pluralistic American identity. Through Educator-led tours of recreated historic apartments, we build knowledge, empathy, and connection by sharing the stories of diverse families who lived in our landmark tenements at 97 and 103 Orchard Street from the 1860s to the 1980s. We feature historic Jewish families from Eastern Europe, Germany, and Greece alongside other diverse families from China, Ireland, Italy, and Puerto Rico. Many of our tours pair different immigrant families to help visitors to make connections across time periods and cultures. In the coming months, we will launch a new exhibit that tells the story of Joseph and Rachel Moore, a Black family who lived in the tenements in the 1860s. This exhibit will provide an unprecedented opportunity to deepen exploration of race and identity across our tenement family exhibits.
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression for nearly a century. Our educational programs and online and on-site courses are meant to extend our global outreach, eliminate barriers to access, and enable us to share our vast resources, laying a foundation of self-knowledge and pride for future generations.
11th Grade - Outreach & Advocacy
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) provides assistance to students through the CAMERA-Supported Group and CAMERA Fellowship programs.
This includes guidance in finding and connecting with speakers or
films, planning and creating events, funding for student groups, and
addressing Middle East distortions in campus publications, fliers,
rallies, and classroom teaching. Students are provided with the support
for bravely and publicly defending Israel against hostility and
distortions on campus.
ICC’s mission is to inspire American college students to see Israel as a source of pride and empower them to stand up for Israel on campus. ICC is unique in that it is a convener and an operator. In its role as a convener, ICC seeks to solve the issues of infighting, competing for resources, and duplicative efforts that previously existed in the pro-Israel campus space. As an operator, ICC supports the college and university ecosystem with the tools, resources, and support required to celebrate Israel while standing up to its detractors. Both facets of the operation are executed by coordinating strategies, providing educational resources, sharing in-depth research, and maintaining a cutting-edge digital program.
Established in 2009, OpenDor Media is a leading global media company for the 21st century with a mission to strengthen the understanding and enduring personal connection of all young Jews and their peers to Judaism, Israel and the Jewish people and to address the challenges young Jews face today. From videos, podcasts, films, publishing, social and email, we create content that today’s generation relies on to explore their identity and heritage to lead more informed and connected Jewish lives, strengthening the global Jewish community. We also possess the capacity to make a deep impact in local communities by providing educational resources and programming, partnering with local Federations whose investments in our work allow us to deepen our connections to their communities and support their educational activities.
StandWithUs is an international, non-partisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism.
StandWithUs empowers and energizes students and communities with leadership training and educational programs on hundreds of college campuses, high schools, and middle schools. StandWithUs informs through social media, print and digital materials, films, weekly newsletters, and missions to Israel.
12th Grade - Israel
The mission of AFJRV is to support seriously ill children of all
backgrounds from Israel and surrounding areas to reach beyond their
medical conditions through free camp programs designed to foster fun,
independence, resilience, and personal growth.
Leket is Israel’s national food bank and largest food rescue network.
The organization rescues surplus produce and protein-rich prepared
meals, that would otherwise be destroyed, for redistribution to 265
partner nonprofit organizations (NPO) throughout Israel,
collectively serving 234,000 nutritionally insecure recipients per week.
Leket advocates food rescue as the most cost-effective and
environmentally sensible solution to the problem of nutritional
insecurity in Israel, providing nutritious hot meals and fresh produce
to all population groups in Israel regardless of ethnic background or
religious affiliation.
Beit Ruth for Young Women & Girls At Risk is a long-term therapeutic residence and school with a mission to ensure that vulnerable and at-risk girls are given the opportunity to thrive emotionally, socially, and academically, thereby breaking the cycle of violence for themselves and future generations of children in Israel. Through advocacy, we share our best practices and model program to educate, empower, and engage a global community to create social change.
Israel Guide Dog Center is the only accredited guide dog program in Israel—in fact in the entire Middle East. At our campus in Beit Oved Israel, we breed, raise, train, and place Guide Dogs for the Blind, Service Dogs for IDF Veterans with PTSD, and Emotional Support Dogs for children on the autism spectrum. For more than three decades, we have totally transformed the lives of Israelis with blindness or other disabilities by providing safe mobility, independence, and self-confidence.
Thank
Israeli Soldiers supports initiatives that embrace, educate, and
empower the brave men and women who serve Israel throughout their
service and into civilian life, to help create a stronger and more
unified society.
