Expanded sessions provide more opportunities to ‘give generously’
Volunteers and community members will have greater opportunities to give generously this year, as the Milwaukee Jewish Federation begins Super Sunday-Super Season on Sunday, Oct. 30.
That is because this year, said Marlene Lauwasser, chair of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s 2006 annual campaign, “we were forced to re-imagine the event,” the federation’s largest outreach of the year, at which hundreds of volunteers make thousands of calls to community members to raise funds for Jews in Milwaukee, in Israel, and around the world.
Due to capital renovations, the event’s usual location at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center is unavailable.
“Because we don’t have use of the JCC,” Lauwasser said, where previously volunteers had access to over 40 lines to reach out to the community, “we thought to take advantage of the opportunity by expanding Super Sunday to a month-long series of phone-a-thons at the federation building,” she said, instead of one Sunday and several weekdays following.
“As we thought about it,” Lauwasser said, “we realized that this is a great opportunity to get more people involved in our campaign, first of all because it offers more times for volunteers to be involved in the phoning process. But also because, in the past, we’ve not always been able to reach people on Super Sunday,” she added.
“We look forward to having more people engaged by spreading the word and working on behalf of Jews here locally and abroad,” Lauwasser said.
Eight Super Sunday-Super Season sessions will take place over five days, and “we’ve worked it around the Packer schedule,” said Lauwasser.
Sessions will be Sunday, Oct. 30, 9-11:30 a.m.; Monday, Oct. 31, 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 6, 9 to 11:30 a.m. and noon to 1:30 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 11, 9-11:30 a.m., noon-2 p.m., and 2:30-5 p.m.; and Wednesday, Dec. 14, 5:30 p.m. All sessions will be held at the Evan and Marion Helfaer Community Services Building, 1360 N. Prospect Ave.
According to Sharyl Paley, M.D., event co-chair with James Ansfield, M.D., “the structure of the sessions should increase not only funds raised but also the number of people involved in the process.”
“It is critical to have support in monetary donations, but also important is giving of time and energy,” Paley said.
“We need to go deep into our hearts and give that little extra,” Paley added. “It is so easy to say, ‘same as last year,’ but to live generously, we must go that extra step and do at least a little bit more. There are so many people in need, and, each year, those needs increase and the costs for services to meet those needs also increase. Everyone, from infants to teens to the elderly, is affected.”
Ansfield has worked at Super Sunday sessions for the past 15 years, because he believes that “giving is not only our responsibility, it is our moral obligation.”
“Tzedakah is one of the greatest mitzvot,” he added, “ and the survival of our Jewish community in Milwaukee and Israel is dependent on our financial support.”
Funds raised during Super Sunday-Super Season benefit 11 local constituent agencies, federation programs and services, properties managed and acquired by the Jewish federation, and the federation’s major national and overseas partners — the United Jewish Communities, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel.
All Super Sunday-Super Season sessions are open to the community.
To volunteer or for more information, contact Margie Stein, federation special projects director, at 414-390-5715 or margies@milwaukeejewish.org. For more information about the federation, visit www.milwaukeejewish.org.
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