On Super Sunday a single phone call can improve lives around the world

Our Federation's first Super Sunday was created over 31 years ago. It's a day for our entire Jewish community to come together as one in spirit and in action - to help Jews in our local community, in Israel and the world. We won't ask you to personally deliver food to the hungry, make visits to the homebound, or drive a senior to the doctor. We don't expect you to teach Hebrew school, take a young adult to Israel or become a Jewish summer camp counselor. All we ask is that you make the call. Bring your positive energy, your cell phones (and chargers) and join with other volunteers as we mobilize our Jewish values of tzedakah and tikkun olam into action.

Super Sunday Co-Chairs Randy Dick, Molly Dick and Brett Dick take a break from making calls at Super Sunday 2011.

The excerpt below is from a letter written to us by the 2011 Super Sunday Co-chair, Molly Dick. We think her words capture the essence of what it means to participate in Super Sunday:

"The event was remarkable on so many levels. We all knew going into it that this was not going to be the Super Sunday of olden days – an extravaganza involving a cast of thousands, a year in the planning and a big budget expense.But we what we did end up accomplishing was, I believe, something even more special then Super Sundays of the past. We produced an event that felt appropriate to the times in which we now live and fundraise and yet still managed to be memorable to those of us who were there that day.

"Our volunteers throughout the day showed up and did their job. They hit the phones; they were knowledgeable and sensitive in how they addressed their donors; they stayed beyond their allotted shifts; and there was an unflagging energy in the room that continued on from the early morning hours right up to the last phone call at 6:00 p.m.

"The community in return responded beyond our wildest expectations. Everyone is feeling the economic pinch. No one, from our biggest donors to the smallest, has emerged unscathed; but in keeping with our remarkable tradition of tzedakah, our donors responded to our calls with an outpouring of support – maintaining and even increasing their gifts on every level when it would have been so easy to say 'No, not this year.' 'No, not me.'

In the hundreds of calls we made throughout the day, was there occasional dissatisfaction over any number of things that Federation doesn’t get right? Of course. Were there donors who wanted to politicize their gifts or give directly to the affiliate agencies instead? Sure. But the overwhelming majority of our donors still understand, and have responded to, the fact that our Federation on all levels helps those who cannot help themselves and whose lives are enriched by Federation dollars. The response was clear and unequivocal and validating. We still have our work cut out for us, and we need to continue to educate our community. But what the Jewish Community Federation stands for in this its centennial year is something to be very proud of.

"Looking back on it all, I realized that we accomplished so much more than just raising vitally needed funds that would take care of fellow Jews both at home and abroad. Brett, Randy and I honored Jerome Dick, whose legacy was the creation of Super Sunday thirty years ago. Our leaders in the community were honored as well for all they had done and continue to do."