HBHA is pleased to announce John and Jenny Isenberg as this year’s honorees for the school’s annual Civic Service Award Celebration.
The event, which takes place on March 20, 2022, will be co-chaired by John’s twin brother and sister-in-law, Tom Isenberg and Ann Slegman Isenberg.
“We are thrilled to be honoring John and Jenny for all they have done for our community and their ongoing generosity and support of HBHA. We are also excited to have such esteemed co-chairs in Tom and Ann,” said Adam Tilove, HBHA head of school.
John and Jenny’s support for HBHA dates back more than 30 years and began with a single meeting.
“I was a volunteer working on the Jewish Federation campaign, and Ron Heiligman, of blessed memory, visited me at my office at Western Extralite to ask for my support for HBHA. Since then, Jenny and I have consistently supported the school,” said John.
“As a former elementary school teacher, education is important to me. We believe having a Jewish school makes our community a stronger place, and we feel we should support families who want to choose that path,” said Jenny.
“We endorse the viability and importance of a Jewish day school and its role in making KC a vibrant Jewish community. We also appreciate that HBHA is a critical piece in attracting professionals to our general community,” said John.
In 2014, the family’s support increased and became more formalized when John and Tom established a college scholarship fund at HBHA to help students graduate debt free.
“Our father, of blessed memory, started a fund for scholarships for college tuition, which was open to Western Extralite employees and family members. The business was acquired in 2014, and the new owners had a similar scholarship fund. So, we transferred that money to a scholarship fund for two schools, one of which is HBHA. We are committed to continue to provide scholarships going forward and hope our recipients, when they are in the position to do so, will do the same. We also invite others to join us in this effort,” said John.
“We accept this as a way to show the rest of the community that you don’t have to have a direct tie to an organization in order for it to be worthy of support. We are happy to be able to help HBHA, and are so appreciative of the recognition. Our hope is to inspire others to start with something small to make the world a better place and to find satisfaction in doing good things that help others,” said Jenny.
CSA Format to Be Announced
Due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, it remains to be seen whether the event will be in person, or if it will be a private broadcast production, like last year’s event.
“We hope to be able to come together in person for the Celebration, but we do not want to jeopardize the health and safety of individuals or our community. We are currently in a holding pattern to see what happens with the local COVID situation, and we hope to announce our decision by January,” said Kerry Cosner, HBHA director of development.
Sponsorships will be available soon at hbha.edu, or contact Cosner at 913-327-8156, for additional information. All donations to the Celebration provide funding for daily programming, operations and financial aid at HBHA.
