Super Sunday 2.0 energizes community and raises Federation dollars

Volunteers pack the room at the Golden Gate Club

This past Sunday, more than 165 volunteers showed what Federation can do with a little ingenuity and a whole lot of community spirit. Bringing along their cell phones, volunteers from around the Bay gathered at the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio for this year’s Super Sunday 2.0. After six hours of dialing, Super Sunday volunteers had raised more than $474,000 towards the Federation’s Annual Campaign. The energy in the room was palpable, with bells sounding every few minutes signaling that a new donation had been made. “It’s one of the few chances you have to bring the community together,” said Charlie Kirschner, AIPAC’s Pacific Northwest deputy director. “I’m having a good time,” he said, adding that he liked the cookies. Andrea Skor, a Human Resources director at Visa and a board member of the Young Adult Division, said it was her first Super Sunday. “It’s more energizing than I thought it would be,” she said. Skor, who, like the entire YAD crowd, was bedecked in a lei, added that it was difficult to call strangers, but “now more than ever, it’s important.”

Volunteer Dana Corvin talks to a donor

Super Sunday  veteran Bernard Catalinotto, aka “Bernie Katz,” (his Super Sunday pseudonym), said that while the main problem was actually reaching people, he’d met with a fair degree of success. “I can generally talk them up,” he said, after working the phones for more than three hours. “My strategy is to say ‘increase your donation by chai,’ which is 18%.” One donor, he said, increased their gift by exactly that: from $100 to $118. At the end of the day, after scores of volunteers had cycled through in two hour shifts, Annual Campaign chair Tom Kasten closed the day on a high note. In the last minutes of Super Sunday 2.0, just before 4 p.m., Kasten raised a whopping $18,000. If you missed your chance to donate last Sunday, it's not too late...donate online! March 7, Super Sunday 2.0 hits the Peninsula...If you're interested in volunteering, please sign up today!