JCF Scholarship Reception Sees Record Awards and Attendance

Pictured at the reception are (l-r): JCF President Susan Olinsky, Noah Ezekiel, Joey Lieberson, Chaim Baratz, JCF Scholarship Committee Chair Carol Roth, and JCF Executive Director David Snyder

The following is a reprint of the JCF's Money Matters column, published in the June 10 2026, issue of the Jewish Community Voice, titled, "JCF Scholarship Reception sees record awards and attendance:

Post-high school education and experiential travel can result in positive, life-changing opportunities. To help South Jersey community members afford these experiences, many generous donors to the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. (JCF) have collectively established endowment funds that provide annual financial support in the form of JCF Scholarship Awards.

As announced recently, over $58,000 in awards to benefit 39 individuals from Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties has been provided as a result of our 2026 application cycle. This was a new record dollar amount, which is triple the amount provided 10 years ago, and double the amount from just seven years ago.

While helping the award recipients, JCF Scholarship Awards also invigorate our Board of Trustees, staff, and Scholarship Committee members as one of the most impactful services we provide. On top of that, our annual Scholarship Awards Reception is a “must see” experience to behold.

This year’s reception was held on June 2 and nearly 100 people attended–also a new record–and the buzz was in the air.

The reception’s program featured remarks by JCF Vice President Susan Olinsky, certificates presented to awardees by Scholarship Committee Chair Carol Roth, donors Marylee and Stuart Alperin (who presented their inaugural Stuart & Marylee Alperin Jewish Communal Service Professional Development Award), guest awardee alumni Shari Goldberg (who received the Valerie Gladfelter Scholarship Award in 2021), and JCF Executive Director David Snyder, along with plenty of photos commemorating the event, thanks to JCF Board member Marc Shenker.

The bulk of JCF’s award dollars are made possible thanks to endowment funds that spin off annual financial support. Of note, this year, three new endowment funds were added to the 13 existing endowment funds in the JCF Scholarship Awards lineup, and several private donors contributed onetime donations to further grow this year’s pool of available funding.

Thank you to all of our award donors and mazel tov to all of this year’s awardees! We congratulate: Ella Alfassy, Sarah Arnstein, Chaim Baratz, Ofek Bar-Or, Aliza Bienenfeld, Cary Bloom, Charlotte Bomze, Neta Shahar Charnuha, Reut Shahar Charnuha, Autumn Cherilien, Natalie Desmond, Nayeli Efrat, Noah Ezekiel, Maya Ezran, Abigail Goldman, Tara Goldman, Miri Greenwald, Toby Greenwald, Bailey Hann, Max Hann, Morgan Hann, Rachel Hornstein, Seth Hornstein, Rivi Jay, Maryanne Kelton, Arden Leslie, Joey Lieberson, Antasia Lloyd, Rachelle Malka, Julia Mizrachi, Samuel Neuwirth, Susan Ottenberg, Alexis Rovner, Zachary Smith, Brendan Sokolic, Gabriel Sokolic, Danny Spector, Hannah Sturtz, and Yarden Yanushkevich.

If you would like to help grow the JCF’s scholarship awards portfolio by creating an endowment fund of your own, please contact me at (856) 673-2571 or dsnyder@jfedsnj.org, as a way to leave a lasting legacy for the community.

As Shari Goldberg astutely stated at the end of her speech, “No matter where life takes us, the goal is the same, to leave the world and the people around us a little better than we found them.” Your scholarship award endowment fund can improve the world of our local residents--even changing their lives.