The Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) recently added two new trustees to its Board of Trustees.
The first is Andrew Kaplan, an active member of the Jewish community who has served on the boards of numerous Jewish and general community nonprofits, chairing many of them. Kaplan is also one of the original founders of the Mitzvah Garden Kansas City and the Jewish Community Digital Archive. Now retired, he worked for Commerce Bank and Commerce Trust Company in various capacities throughout most of his professional career.
“As a long-term, committed user of the services of JCF, my primary goal is to continue to help provide an effective and efficient vehicle for funders to understand the needs of the community and move charitable funds to those organizations providing much-needed services,” he said.
“What I appreciate most about JCF is educating [my wife] Sheryl and me on the most effective ways to set up and structure our donor advised fund, as well as making sure we are aware of communal opportunities beyond those traditional organizations we currently support,” Kaplan said. “The performance of the funds has been stellar, allowing us to increase our grants as a result of the appreciation of our initial charitable investments. Also, JCF pioneered partnering with Stan Bushman on legacy giving, which helped our family direct major gifts to those organizations that have the most meaning in our lives.”
The Foundation also welcomed Ora Reynolds to its board. A Chicago native, Reynolds joined Hunt Midwest, a Kansas City–based privately held real estate development firm, in 1991 and has been the company’s president and CEO since 2010. She is involved with many local nonprofits and has served on the University of Kansas Advancement board and chaired the Starlight Theater board and the board of the Kansas City Area Development Council.
“JCF advocates on behalf of the Jewish community, creates partnerships with other Jewish and non-Jewish organizations and works to engage people in philanthropy regardless of where they are in their giving journey,” Reynolds said. “I want to be a champion for the organization’s mission, raise awareness of the JCF donor advised fund to engage new people in philanthropy and provide strategic advice based on my past professional and personal experiences.”
As part of the JCF Board of Trustees, Kaplan and Reynolds will represent JCF in the community, help guide its policies and decision-making and provide financial and administrative oversight of its assets.
More information about JCF and how it serves the community is available by contacting Josh Stein at (913) 327-8121 or .
