|
|
May 9, 2003/Iyar 7 5763, Vol. 55, No. 37
Tzedakah Fund changes leadership
BARRY COHEN
Editor
While the administration of the Tzedakah Fund has changed hands, the result has been the same: the distribution of funds to small Israeli nonprofits that receive little government assistance.
Stan Mayersohn, Scottsdale resident and retired certified public accountant, started the fund in 1984 and served as its chief administrator.
However, his wife Betty died in January 2002, and Stan has lately been ill, said Elaine Hammerschlag, Tzedakah Fund co-president.
For the past six months, the fund was in limbo, she said.
A group of Mayersohn's friends therefore decided to take over the collection and dispersal of funds, she said. The group included Sue Rutkin, co-president; Bob Segelbaum, treasurer; Elaine Waxman, secretary; Jody Labb, Lesley Lustgarten, Joellyn Pollock and E. David Metz.
"With all that is happening with the economy being down here and worse (in Israel), we felt it was important to get money out to these people who need funding," she explained.
"I did not want to see the (Mayersohn's) effort fall by the wayside," added Segelbaum, who retired from the Arizona Attorney General's Office two years ago. "It gives me a great deal of satisfaction ... when I write checks to agencies that appreciate and need funds."
This year, the fund dispersed $22,000 to the following recipients: Matan Beseter, which provides relief to distressed large families, single parent families and families where a parent is chronically or terminally ill; Center for the Advancement of the Blind, which provides treatment to blind or poor-sighted infants, and adults who have recently lost their sight; Linda Feldman Rape Crisis Center, which offers services and assistance to survivors of rape and sexual assault; Care for the Needy of Jerusalem, aiding the needy from all neighborhoods and walks of life; Jonathan Porath, which provides aid to immigrants; Clara Hammer, "the chicken lady," who provides free chicken Shabbat and holiday dinners; Beit Tzipporah Battered Women's Shelter, which provides training for independent living; and the Roof, which offers care for demobilized soldiers who have no families.
The fund, a nonprofit organization certified by the Internal Revenue Service to receive tax-deductible contributions, has distributed $413,504 since its inception.
For information, contact Hammerschlag, 602-955-7955, Lustgarten, 480-949-5259, or Segelbaum, 602-588-0006.
|
