Federations look at the big picture

Last week,  Roger Feigelson, a member of our North Peninsula Council, wrote a letter to the j. weekly on federations.  His letter was published last Friday, and is re-posted below courtesy of the j.

Federations look at the big picture

David George’s “modest proposal” (Letters, Feb. 27) recommending the shutting down of federations gave me one thought: smaller, lesser-known Jewish agencies that rely heavily on JCF support would lose critical funding and potentially have to shut their doors. As a volunteer for the federation for nearly two decades, I find it reassuring that the federation takes a holistic view of the entire Jewish community. Sure, I could give directly to an agency, but maybe there are other agencies with critical programs that are in jeopardy that I don’t know about. I take comfort that the federation applies my dollars where the need is most, rather than making my own allocation, which could just be icing on the cake for an agency, while neglecting a true need elsewhere. Bottom line: Federations aren’t overhead as David George suggests — they’re value add. I thank the federations for again showing that even in the Jewish community, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Roger Feigelson   | Belmont