Download - Oregon Jewish Life Magazine

[HAPPENINGS/Review]
Gail Littman, vice president of endowments and communications of
the San Diego Jewish Community Foundation, tells Oregon Jewish
leaders how 20 organizations in her community have gained an
estimated $211 million in legacy gifts from about 900 families since
creating a community-wide legacy program in 2004.
Community explores legacy giving at OJCF dinner
About 70 Jewish communal professional and lay leaders explored
how legacy giving can ensure the community’s future at a May
24 program hosted by the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation
Professional Advisors Group.
“This is not about fund-raising. … This is about giving someone
the opportunity to be remembered after they are gone,” said Gail
Littman, director of the Create a Jewish Legacy program.
Littman told community leaders they don’t need to reinvent the
wheel to create a legacy program. She shared some of the tools and
experiences of the San Diego Jewish Community Foundation. She
said one of the most important things she learned is the need to
thank donors properly. Annual, capital and legacy donors should be
thanked regularly and told what their contributions make possible.
She shared a short clip from San Diego’s Book of Life video project
that showed one legacy donor explaining why she had made a
legacy gift: “We as seniors owe the young people the opportunity to
make successes of their lives. … The reward you give yourself (by
leaving a legacy) is probably one of the greatest rewards.”
For more information, contact OJCF at 503-248-9328 or
visit www.ojcf.org.
Dedicated June 23, new BB Camp dining hall honors past
After 85 years of memories and four generations of campers, the B’nai
B’rith Camp dining hall has been rebuilt for the future while maintaining a
sense of its rich heritage. The new dining hall and conference center has
increased its capacity by 50 percent while offering state-of-the-art features
to benefit campers for generations to come.
The dining hall was dedicated June 23, during the Dining Hall Dedication
and Friends and Family Day event at the camp on the Oregon coast near
Lincoln City.
Designed by Portland Architect Stewart Gordon Straus, the new hall
accommodates 310 people. The design preserved the hall’s history by
incorporating the original, salvaged wood floor surrounding the new indoor/
outdoor fireplace, which is flanked by windows overlooking Devil’s Lake.
“BB Camp owes a debt of gratitude to our many generous donors,” said BB
Executive Director Camp Michelle Koplan.
The BB Men’s Camp Association spearheaded the project and raised more
than $850,000. This construction project is the first phase in BB Camp’s
10-year master plan to replace every building.
Visitors explore OJM’s ‘In the Game’
About 200 people explore Oregon Jewish Museum’s summer exhibit “In the Game,” at the opening reception June 6. The multimedia
exhibit, which examines the intersection between sports and community life, continues through Sept. 30 at the Museum,
1953 NW Kearney St., Portland. For more information, call 503-226-3600.
OREGON JEWISH LIFE | JULY 2012 69