by Marilyn Silverstein
NJJN Bureau Chief/PMB

November 18, 2008

As its annual Super Sunday fund-raiser unfolds in the shadow of the worldwide financial crisis, the United Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks is urging its loyal donors to dig deep.

The all-day phonathon, this year slated for Dec. 7, accounts for as much as 10 percent of the philanthropy’s annual fund-raising. The money supports Jewish educational and social service activities locally, in Israel, and in other overseas communities.

“The key to growing our campaign is going to be to ask those who have helped us in the past to help us in a new way — that is, to find a friend or an acquaintance or a family member who hasn’t given to federation and entice them to support the campaign,” said the federation’s president, Daniel Brent.

“We need to work together as a community to ensure that we can meet our obligations to the people who depend on us. We need to bring in more people to help us meet our goals,” he said. “And those of us who are annual contributors need to dig deeper to help.”

Volunteers will be working the Super Sunday phones on Dec. 7, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Merrill Lynch complex off Scotch Road in Hopewell.

One People, One Day, One Community will be the theme of the event, which will include a teen session from 1 to 4:30 p.m. In addition, this year for the first time, federation board members will come together for a special calling session from 6 to 8 p.m. at Congregation Beth Chaim in Princeton Junction.

Making a difference

At 4 p.m. that day at Beth Chaim, in conjunction with Super Sunday, federation will join area synagogues and agencies in cosponsoring an initiative of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Mercer County. The program will feature prominent psychologist Robert Brooks, coauthor of Raising Resilient Children, who will discuss Stressed-Out or Stress-Hardy Kids: Raising Our Children to Be Resilient.

For the second consecutive year, Lynne Azarchi, executive director of the Kidsbridge Tolerance Museum at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, will coordinate the teen component of Super Sunday.

About 50 teens turned out last year for the calling session, which also included training in community needs and empathy, according to Azarchi.

“I’m very passionate about this,” she said. “We’re trying to create empathy for real people, so that when they’re on the phones, they have a sense they are helping people who need money and services. When they go on the phones, it’s not just to get a pledge; it’s to help a real person.

“What is wonderful is that the kids are from all across the community,” Azarchi said. “We’re trying to get them very personally to connect. It’s a great chance to get a sense of community and to make a difference.”

As volunteers pick up their phones to connect with donors throughout the day, it is especially important that they communicate the urgency of the need, Brent said.

“The diminished value of the dollar to purchase services in Israel and around the world means we have to raise more money just to stay in place to meet the needs,” the federation president said. “Also, the services provided by the agencies we support locally will be strained, given the financial turmoil.”

In fact, the financial crisis is the key to the story of Super Sunday 2009, said Emily Josephson, federation associate campaign chair.

“My thoughts and feelings are that it’s exactly at times of crisis that the Jewish community seems to pull together,” said Josephson, who is spearheading the Super Sunday committee.

“That, to me, is the whole idea,” she said. “Now, more than ever, we really need to come together to raise those needed dollars. Economic crisis or not, now, more than ever, we need to continue helping the people we’ve always helped.”

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