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The
Jewish
Board of Family and Children's Services (JBFCS),
New York City's largest comprehensive provider of health and
human services to adults and children, hosted its Spring
Benefit 2014 on May
20 at The
Plaza Hotel and
honored trustees Anthony
E. Mann and Laurie
Sprayregen. The
event raised $1.7
million for
the organization.
Serving as emcee, WNBC 4 New York news anchor Melissa
Russo kicked
things off, and JBFCS Board Trustee Lynn
Kroll provided
the Blessing Over Bread, a Jewish custom in honor of the
organization's history and origins. JBFCS Board President Steven
Fasman welcomed the event's more
than 400 guests and
spoke about the depth and breadth of the 140-year-old
organization's services. He also paid tribute to both the
current and future chief executive officers of partner
organization UJA-Federation of New York, John
Ruskay and Eric Goldstein,
respectively.
"JBFCS is the single largest recipient of UJA-Federation
support, and so we are all the more appreciative of John's
leadership, wisdom and commitment to making the world a
better place," Fasman said. "And I speak for the senior
leadership at JBFCS when I say how excited we are to partner
with his successor Eric Goldstein as he leads UJA-Federation
through the next chapter."
JBFCS Chief Executive Officer David
Rivel lauded
the night's honorees as brilliant, committed philanthropists
and very deserving of the awards they each received. He
also told the audience a little more about the work of the
organization.
"At JBFCS, we work with three groups of people, people who
struggle with mental health issues, people who have
developmental disabilities, and families that need support
because there is domestic violence or abuse or neglect of
children in the home," Rivel said. "In all of our work, we
have one goal: to help people live rich, full and productive
lives, with as much independence as possible. We call it
recovery."
Rivel then introduced a video that told the stories of four
JBFCS clients, three of whom were in the room and received a
standing ovation.
After dinner, former JBFCS Trustee John
A Herrmann presented Anthony
E. Mann with The
Schiff Community Impact Award. The Schiff family has
been affiliated with JBFCS and its predecessor organizations
almost since their inception 140 years ago. The Schiffs
donated more than 100 acres of land for JBFCS' Westchester
campus, and Mortimer Schiff ran the agency for 21 years in
the early 1900s. Lisa
Schiff serves
as a JBFCS Trustee today.
Currently a Board Chair of the JBFCS Board of Trustees, Mann is
President and CEO of 115-year-old E-J
Electric Installation Co., which is the oldest
independent electrical and communications contractor in the
United States. He served as President of the JBFCS Board
from 2009 through 2013 and has volunteered with JBFCS for
more than 25 years, starting first at JBFCS' Kaplan House a
residence for young men who have aged out of the foster care
system?when he was in his early twenties. He later went on
to chair the Kaplan House Divisional Board. Mann is also
the founder of JBFCS Hudson Valley Bike Ride, an annual
cycling fundraiser.
"It is almost hard for me to remember a time when JBFCS
wasn't a part of my life." Mann told the crowd. "My 28-year
journey with JBFCS has been one of the most rewarding
aspects of my life."
JBFCS Trustees Toni
Bernstein, Janet
Ginsberg, and Lori
Reinsberg presented
Laurie Sprayregen with The
Madeleine Borg Lifetime Services Award. Borg was a
lifelong advocate for children and for providing greater
access to mental health services. She was an early
organizer and leader of the Jewish Federation, founder of
the Big Sister movement in America, and president of JBFCS
from 1942 to 1952.
Sprayregen is
President of Thanks
to Scandinavia, a scholarship fund that her father
Richard Netter and Danish entertainer Victor Borge founded
in 1963 to provide scholarships to Scandinavian and
Bulgarian graduate students pursuing degrees in the United
States in recognition of those who rescued Jews during World
War II. A current JBFCS Trustee, Sprayregen has been
actively involved with the agency for more than 30 years and
serves as the chair of the Clinics Committee.
"I often tell our social workers that there is no way in the
world that I could even begin to do the type of work that
they do," Sprayregen told the crowd. "For what they do is
truly the work of angels."
IN ATTENDANCE:
JBFCS Board Members Anthony
E. Mann, Laurie
Sprayregen, Jean Shafiroff, Jean
Troubh, Alice
Tisch,Fran Levy, Lynn
Kroll, Toni
Bernstein, Steven
Fasman, Karen
Kasner, CEO David
Rivel.
WNBC 4's Melissa
Russo, UJA's Eric
Goldstein, and many others
About JBFCS
For 140 years, JBFCS has been helping New
Yorkers overcome barriers, realize their potential, and live
as independently as possible. With hope and resilience
guiding our work, we promote recovery by addressing all
aspects of an individual's life, including mental and
physical health, family, housing, employment and education.
Each year JBFCS serves more than 30,000 adults and children
across the five boroughs and in Westchester. Visit us at www.jbfcs.org
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