Last year, Team Friendship succeeded in raising awareness for acceptance of special needs individuals when they tackled the odds of a daunting journey and sent a clear message to spectators along the way, that external differences don’t render an individual less deserving of respect, compassion and friendship.

This year, Team Friendship is opening their arms to bike riders in Colorado who wish to join the team and participate in this exciting cross-country adventure.

The five-day bike ride will begin in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 16, arriving in Lone Tree on Friday afternoon, July 20.

The 420-mile ride provides for some amazing scenic passes. The trip is kosher and includes accommodations and professional ride support along the way.

There is an $1,800 fundraising minimum goal to join the ride that will go to further Friendship Circle of Colorado activities.

“Bike for Friendship presents a fun way to raise awareness and funds for special needs individuals,” says Rabbi Benjy Brackman, who is helping coordinate the Colorado logistics and will also be joining the week long segment ride from Santa Fe to Denver.

For more information please call Benjy on 720-984-5805 or visit www.bike4friendship.com/Denver.

Map of Bike Ride

• Inspiring Jewish teenagers to be involved in Jewish life
• Supporting refugees in adapting to life in Greater Denver and Boulder and becoming self-sufficient
• Supporting people who are homeless in becoming self-sufficient
• Supporting individuals with special needs in becoming self-sufficient

The grants were awarded at a celebration on May 6 for members of Rose Youth Foundation, their families and grant recipients. Since its inception in 2001, Rose Youth Foundation has granted $520,600 to organizations serving the seven-county Denver/Boulder community.

This was the 11th year of Rose Youth Foundation. This year’s group was comprised of 23 Jewish youth in grades 10 through 12 from 11 different schools, representing a wide range of Jewish backgrounds. Meeting since November 2011, the group studied Jewish philanthropic traditions, strategic philanthropy and community needs. In February, Rose Youth Foundation issued a Request for Proposals, which yielded 22 requests totaling $279,700. Rose Youth Foundation’s members reviewed the proposals, made site visits and reached decisions on which projects they would fund.

Following is a list of Rose Youth Foundation’s 2012 grants and descriptions of the projects for which the grant funds will be used. Locations indicate the organization’s headquarters, not necessarily the geographic area served.

African Community Center (Denver): $4,000 to establish a computer lab for refugee students. 

Colorado African Organization (Denver): $7,500 to provide onsite child care during adult ESL, computer literacy and social integration classes. 

Goodwill Industries of Denver (Denver): $4,500 to train and certify refugee women as doulas.

Jewish Family Service of Colorado (Denver): $10,000 to support citizenship classes for refugees.

Jewish Student Union (Port Chester, NY): $10,000 to support Jewish Student Union clubs in Denver-area high schools.

Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains (Denver): $5,000 to support job training and placement for young adult refugees.

Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center (Denver): $7,000 to create a community-wide art initiative organized for and by Jewish teens.

SHALOM Denver (Denver): $6,000 to develop employment sites for groups of individuals with special needs. SHALOM Denver is a division of Jewish Family Service of Colorado.

Warren Village (Denver): $6,000 to support homeless families with secure housing, early childhood education, case management and adult education.

Jewish youth who will be in grades 10  through 12 in the 2012-2013 academic year, and who are interested in participating in Rose Youth Foundation, can visit rcfdenver.org/RYF, or contact Sarah Indyk at 303.398.7416 to learn more. View a list of 2011-2012 members.

friend-ly ( frend-lee) adjective

1. showing friendship

2. kind, helpful

3. inclined to approve, help, or support

4. amicable

vis-i-tor (viz-i-ter) noun

1. a person who visits as for reasons of friendship, business, travel or the like.

Jewish Family Service in Boulder is looking for volunteers for our seniors. If you consider yourself friendly and like to visit, please consider this volunteer opportunity!

Many of our seniors are isolated, new to the area, or just in need of a friend.

For more information, please contact Ingrid Swords, volunteer voordinator, at 303.415.1025 or iswords@jewishfamilyservice.org.

This Sunday, April 29, an unprecedented gathering of the Jewish Food Movement in Colorado will unfold in Boulder. The Hazon Rocky Mountain Jewish Food Summit at the University Memorial Center at CU will be hosting farmers, rabbis, activists, entrepreneurs and others for a dynamic day of learning, celebration, eating, community-building, and hands-on doing. There will be a noodle kugel contest to determine whose kugel is the best in the west–is it yours?

Some of Boulder’s favorites will be on hand to share their stories, inspiration and resources: Reb Zalman Schacter-Shalomi, Morah Yehudis Fishman, the Boulder Kosher Meat Co-Op, Prof. Caryn Aviv from CU’s Jewish Studies program, Hannah Kapnik with Kevah, Seth Ellis Chocolatier, Restaurant 4580, Boulder Tuv Ha’aretz CSA, Red Wagon Organic Farm, and many more!

There will be optional yoga and morning services, 20 dynamic sessions on a wide range of topics covering everything at the intersection of food, sustainability, and Jewish life, a delicious kosher lunch, and an amazing Do It Yourself Extravaganza. Plus, special programming for middle-school-aged youth.

Register now for the best rate: $50/$25 students and seniors. Day of registration is $70. For the full schedule and program details and to register, visit: www.hazon.org/foodsummit.

Bruce DeBoskey, of the DeBoskey Group

Bruce DeBoskey, principal of the DeBoskey Group and a BJN contributor, joined Boulder Jewish News’ supporter group this week.  BJN caught up with Bruce just before Passover for one of our “4 Questions” interviews about creating a consultancy around philanthropy.

1. You were a Colorado lawyer for 25 years and then became the Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League. Why did you then become a Philanthropic Advisor? How did that prior experience prepare you for this work?

As ADL’s Regional Director I had the challenge of raising money to support our work. Although individuals, families, businesses and foundations made donations for different reasons, I learned they often were disorganized and not strategic about their philanthropy. As a trial lawyer I had learned about strategy, confidentiality and fiduciary duties. As a nonprofit executive, I learned about how the nonprofit sector works – and doesn’t work. As a Philanthropic Advisor, I use those experiences to help individuals, families, businesses and foundations organize, strategize and maximize the impact of their philanthropic investments.

2. Explain a typical engagement. What should a person, family, business or foundation expect?

The first step is to ascertain and understand the reasons why the client chooses to be philanthropic. Then, utilizing different methodologies, we determine which style of philanthropy (traditional, venture, transformational, etc.) the client is most comfortable with, and the causes or issues they wish to address. If it is a business, we ascertain whether employee engagement and volunteering is a part of the overall philanthropic initiative, who their customers are, and in what ways their business might impact, or be impacted by, social issues. Then, we develop a strategy to achieve the client’s goals, and metrics and other evaluation tools to help determine the impact of their approach. For businesses, we work to align their philanthropic goals with their other business objectives. We help clients view their philanthropy as a social investment…and help them achieve the return on that investment – for themselves and the people or causes they wish to help.

3. Is there a particularly Jewish perspective you bring to the work? Does that fly even with non-Jewish clients?

Although the teachings of Tikkun Olam (“to repair the world”), Tzedek Tzedek Tirdoff (“Justice, Justice shall you pursue”), and Tzedakah (“Charity”) are Jewish values that motivate and inspire me in my work, such values are universal and appeal to people of all faiths or none.

4. How do you know when things are really clicking -or not- with clients?

When successful people bring their business and other skills to bear upon their philanthropy, it is an entirely different experience that goes beyond the act of writing a check. When parents engage their children, young or grown, in meaningful conversations about money, philanthropy and legacy, families develop new bonds and discover shared values about their place in the world and their ability to make a difference together. When foundations focus on a mission and develop strategies to achieve it and tools to evaluate their efforts, their ability to have an impact soars. And when business leaders understand that the ultimate profitability and success of their business depends upon their participation in creating healthy, safe, educated, inclusive and life sustaining communities, everybody wins.

Thank you Bruce, for supporting the Boulder Jewish News.

Sophia Goldberg, C4H President

This fall CU freshman, Sophia Goldberg, decided to bring the international organization, Challah for Hunger, to campus. Each week CU students and community members order challah, for a $5 minimum donation each. Then every Thursday between 7:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. volunteers get together at CU Hillel to braid and bake the challot. Once the delicious bread is baked it is either delivered or picked up by the customer. All the proceeds from the donations go to non-profit organizations.

Half the proceeds at all Challah for Hunger clubs go to the American Jewish World Service’s Relief Fund in Sudan. This relief effort provides many services to the displaced people in Sudan and Chad. The efforts include: improving access to clean water; enhancing relief camps and sanitation facilities; providing emergency, preventative and basic healthcare; and lastly nutrition and reproductive health services and counseling.

The other half of the proceeds this semester is going to the international non-profit organization, First Book. First Book’s mission is to see that all children, regardless of their economic conditions, have access to an ongoing supply of new books. Every $5 in proceeds translates into two books for a child in need!

If you have any questions, want to learn more, or are interested in ordering challah, check out CU’s Challah for Hunger’s website or email Challah@Colorado.edu.

As Jews we are taught about the importance feeding the hungry from a very young age. At every seder we say, “Let all who are hungry come here and eat.” We collect tzedakah, we give food gifts on Purim. In Exodus just a few short days after God performs the miracles of parting the sea and bringing the Israelites out of Egypt and giving them water the people start to complain. “The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by God’s hand in Egypt! There at least we could sit by pots of meat and eat our fill of bread! But you had to bring us out to this desert, to kill the entire community by starvation!’” (Exodus 16:3) We see that it is impossible to appreciate even the greatest miracles with empty stomachs. Hunger reduces us to animals; the need for food surpasses the need for shelter, peace, friendship, knowledge, comfort, love. When we feed the hungry we elevate all of humanity.

For information and the downloadable tool-kit click here. The tool‐kit is designed to help you navigate through the whole month’s program. You will find a calendar with all related activities listed; instructions on doing both the Food Waste Challenge and the Food Stamp Challenge; information on where and how and who to contact to volunteer locally along; some basic facts and figures about hunger in our community and nationally; and many links to websites that have much more information than we can include here. If you have any questions please feel free to contact foodchallenge@bonaishalom.org.

Services start at 6pm, dinner at 7pm and a talk and discussion at 8pm about how faith communities should be addressing issues of food and hunger, followed by dessert. Although the dinner is sold out, we have extended our deadline to RSVP by 24 hours for the talk and dessert. RSVP by 5pm Wednesday February 29th.

Please join us at Bonai Shalom on Friday March 2nd for “Food, Faith, and Hunger,” a conversation among Congressman Jared Polis, Hazon representative Becky O’Brien, and Rabbi Marc Soloway.

This event is the kick-off of Bonai Shalom’s Food Challenge, a month-long program focusing on the food justice issues of poverty, hunger, and waste. (For information on the Food Challenge email foodchallenge@bonaishalom.org)
Dinner, talk, and dessert $15/person; Talk and dessert $10/person. Space is limited, reservations and prepayment necessary for this event. For information and reservations email office@bonaishalom.org or call 303-442-6605