SOME ENCHANTED EVENING — This year marks the 25th anniversary of Some Enchanted Evening, the Johnson County Community College Foundation’s glittering black-tie gala. Each year proceeds from the event help students in need to continue their education. The event has also recognized a Johnson Countian of the Year — a man, woman or couple who worked to benefit the county through civic leadership or philanthropic support. The roster is a who’s-who of county leadership and includes several members of the Jewish community —. Sue Ellen Fried, George and Floriene Lieberman, Shirley and the late Stan Rose, Steve Rose, Walt Hiersteiner and Elaine and the late Norman Polsky. These people will be recognized, along with the other honorees, at the Nov. 12 event for their service to the community and the college.

STAR SPANGLED FUNDRAISER — Lynn Intrator and Melynn Sight, members of the Star Spangled Spectacular committee, the fundraiser put on by the Overland Park Rotary Club on the 4th of July every year, sent us this photo of the check presentation. Last month the OP Rotary Club presented $55,500 to four local charities, representing the proceeds from the 20th annual event at Corporate Woods. The four charities included Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City, Head Start of Shawnee Mission, SAFEHOME and the club itself for its Tomorrow’s Leaders Today program.

DESIGNER JEWELRY — Artist and jewelry designer Mariana Ravid will introduce her new jewelry collection, including pieces designed exclusively for Shop Beautiful, on Saturday, Nov. 5, at the shop’s Hawthorne Plaza location. This is Ravid ’s first public appearance in a U.S. retail establishment. Mariana Spirit of Design is known for popularly priced jewelry that interfuses hand cut gem stones, material beads and Swarovski crystals — some of them antique pieces over 100 years old — with gold and silver-plated metals.

Corrections

An article mentioning Temple Israel of Greater Kansas City in last week’s issue (Oct. 13) incorrectly stated its membership. More than 80 families are now members of the Reform congregation.

An item submitted about Rosh Hashanah in the Rockies published Oct. 6 incorrectly stated that Adventure Rabbi Jamie Korngold received her Bat Mitzvah training in New Jersey from Cantor Paul Silbersher. Cantor Silbersher reports they actually studied together at Woodlands Community Temple in Hartsdale, N.Y.

The Oct. 20 article about The G3 Summit: Women’s Guide to Good Giving omitted information regarding the funders. It is funded by the Jacob and Frances O. Brown Family Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

Residents at Village Shalom like to say that something special happens there every day. Earlier this year, something truly remarkable took place that underscores not only the special nature of Village Shalom, but of the Kansas City Jewish community that supports it.

The continuing-care retirement community recently culminated a quiet, two-and-a-half-year effort to reduce the $40 million in capital debt on its 26-acre campus. Through the efforts of members of the Kansas City community, local funding agencies and the organization’s major creditor, the behind-the-scenes, albeit aggressive campaign has reduced the organization’s debt to a more manageable $16 million. Matthew E. Lewis, president and CEO of the 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization, said, “It is the community’s most ambitious and successful fund-raising effort in recent memory.”

The issue of Village Shalom’s debt has not been a secret; in fact, three years ago, The Chronicle published an interview with Lewis and then-newly elected Chairman of the Board James Klein about the financial challenges facing the organization. They openly discussed the situation and how Village Shalom’s debt arose from a broad and longstanding array of factors, including higher labor costs, a higher percentage of residents on Medicaid and lower Medicare reimbursement rates, and lower proceeds from the sale of Shalom Geriatric and Shalom Plaza at 78th and Holmes. The collapse of the financial markets in the fall of 2008 seemed to cast a final pall on any immediate prospects of initiating a broad-based debt-reduction campaign.

Amid this environment, however, the newly constituted board appointed a debt-restructuring subcommittee, led by Klein, to develop a strategy to establish Village Shalom’s financial stability once and for all.

“In a strange way, the financial crisis gave us the clarity of what needed to happen in order to achieve our goal,” said Klein. “In the same way a conventional fund-raising campaign was a non-starter, the idea of combining the collective efforts of several different constituency groups began to take shape.”

A Shared Commitment

Village Shalom opened in June 2000 as an innovative retirement community offering a continuum of living options that enables residents to “age in place.” Its Overland Park campus consists of 64 independent-living villas; 54 assisted-living apartments; two 26-unit skilled-nursing floors providing both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care; and assisted living, skilled nursing and adult day programs for senior adults with memory loss and dementia-related illnesses. The facility also meets the needs of non-residential senior adults through its wellness center and outpatient therapy services. In addition, the facility provides more than $1.6 million annually in financial assistance to nearly one-third of its main-campus (assisted living and skilled nursing) residents who rely on Medicaid or other subsidy for their care.

While Village Shalom’s early years were marked by lower-than-expected occupancy rates and high staff turnover, changes in management prompted a reversal of those trends starting around 2005. Village Shalom has averaged 95 percent occupancy over the last four years and has a waiting list for its popular assisted-living apartments. Staff turnover has declined substantially, and efficiency measures now rank high, based on national figures.

The $40 million in debt being carried by Village Shalom as it marked its first decade of operation was, however, more than twice the amount it could financially support. After running multiple financial models and getting input from community funders, the board of directors determined that reducing the debt to a figure nearer $16 million would give Village Shalom the necessary financial flexibility to operate in the highly competitive senior-care industry in which it had otherwise made great strides. Thus, Village Shalom would need to reduce its debt by $24 million.

The magnitude of this figure led the debt-restructuring subcommittee to conclude that help must come from every possible avenue. It would require debt relief from the creditors of Village Shalom as well as contributions from the community in a variety of creatively conceived formats. Negotiations began with the largest creditor, a global bank, to write down a significant portion of their debt.

The community effort was proposed as a matching-gift challenge in which funds raised from major gifts would be matched by grants from the Jewish Heritage Foundation and the Menorah Legacy Foundation. Lastly, additional debt relief would result from Village Shalom’s repurchase, at a discount, of bonds originally issued in the retail market on its behalf. The lynchpin of the plan was that each group’s commitment was contingent upon the success of all the others.

After nearly two years of discussions, the bank agreed to a write-down on the debt; both the Jewish Heritage and Menorah Legacy foundations pledged their side of the community-matching grant; and with deadlines looming, the major-gifts campaign exceeded its $8 million target in a matter of weeks, in an extraordinary display of generosity and community leadership.

Reason for Being

“We were fortunate to have some truly dedicated and visionary community leaders who literally made house calls to ensure we could garner the support we needed,” said Lewis of the community-based campaign. “Much of the success is due to the fact that we remained focused on Village Shalom’s reason for being, and that message was reiterated to everyone we approached for support.”

The senior-living community traces its roots to the Moshav Zkeinim (home for the aged), chartered in 1912 to care for elderly Jews in Kansas City who lacked personal financial resources. The organization provided housing and care for residents in the Michael Appleman Home for Jewish Aged and later the Jewish Geriatric and Convalescent Center and Shalom Geriatric Center. Village Shalom maintains the organization’s longstanding commitment to Jewish traditions and values, and continues to be largely supported by the Kansas City Jewish community. Approximately 75 percent of Village Shalom’s residents are Jewish.

The success of this year’s debt-reduction campaign comes at a particularly momentous time in Village Shalom’s history: The organization will mark its centennial year in 2012.

“While we certainly serve a much broader senior population than we did 100 years ago, and offer a full range of options for elder living and care, we have never lost sight of the organization’s original commitment,” said Michael J. Abrams, chairman of the current Village Shalom Board of Directors. “We are dedicated to ‘honoring our parents’ by providing them with the best possible quality of life. This can happen only with the support of a cohesive, caring community.

“We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all parties involved in this monumental campaign,” Abrams added. “That we were able to pull together and succeed on so many fronts underscores the dynamic nature of the Kansas City community. Our visionary board and subcommittee, our funding organizations, our community leaders, our generous donors — they all worked hand in hand to ensure that Village Shalom will continue to thrive and grow.”

Lewis commented that the campaign’s success enables Village Shalom to look toward upcoming generations of senior adults: “We’re extremely proud of our past, and now the organization is in a position to think more strategically about our future as well. Many more people are living longer, and demographic trends ensure that the number of people needing long-term care will increase significantly. As the baby-boom generation ages, it will present the industry with formidable challenges, but also opportunities. We can now begin to envision the next phases of Village Shalom’s presence in meeting the changing needs of our community’s seniors.”

As the situation stands, the bank debt has been paid in full; $1 million dollars in bonds have been repurchased in the open market at a substantial discount; and residual funds reside with the Jewish Community Foundation to retire additional bond holdings. The total reduction of debt from this effort currently exceeds $25 million.

But the job is not yet complete, Abrams noted. “The first stage of this campaign exceeded all targets, but Village Shalom wants to keep up the momentum and expand this campaign to the broader community. The recent 11 percent cut in Medicare payments to skilled-nursing facilities is a timely reminder of the challenges we face in the health-care business and the importance of doing everything we can to further solidify our financial base.

“Kansas City’s Jewish community has a long history of banding together to overcome challenges and obstacles,” he added. “I’m proud to say that we have accomplished that on behalf of Village Shalom’s residents and their extended families. In fact, we’ve done what other Jewish communities across the country have not been able to do. Cities like Pittsburgh and St. Louis have faced similar situations in recent years, yet were unable to maintain their Jewish community-supported long-term care facilities as independent not-for-profits — forcing them to sell to for-profit groups. The campaign we’ve undertaken here in Kansas City points to the particular strength of this community. As a result, we are strongly positioned to uphold the Jewish tradition of caring for our elders in generations yet to come.”

When it comes to finances, many women can say “We’ve come a long way, baby!” Today, regardless of whether a woman contributes to the family’s income, it’s common for both the husband and wife to make financial decisions together. Along those lines, many women now also have a larger say in how the family’s charitable dollars are spent as well.

In an effort to inspire and empower Jewish women of Kansas City to play a substantial role in the family’s financial giving, the Jewish Community Foundation and the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation has planned the G-3 Summit: A Woman’s Guide to Good Giving. It will take place on Oct. 30 and is being co-chaired by three women who are tremendously involved in philanthropic endeavors in Kansas City: Debbie Sosland Edelman, Polly Kramer and Alana Muller.

Sosland-Edelman said the program’s goal is to give women the tools they need to understand their charitable giving. She believes the program will help women learn to:

• Make giving more important and more central parts of their lives

• Give women an understanding that their giving can have a significant impact in changing the world (tikkun olam)

• Help give women the tools to best align their values with their giving of both time and money

• Give women the tools so they give with confidence

• Encourage women to set an example for their families

All these issues, Sosland-Edelman said, will be addressed in either breakout sessions or the speech given by the event’s keynote speaker, Andrea Pactor. Pactor is the associate director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University and her speech will cover how women can best align their giving — of both time and money — to their own values, and to develop confidence when it comes to giving.
Sosland-Edelman explained that the Women’s Philanthropy Institute is the preeminent center for the study of women and philanthropy.

“The moment you meet Andrea, you realize this woman knows what she’s talking about. She is smart, intuitive, knowledgeable and passionate,” Sosland-Edelman said.

As Sosland-Edelman and the committee researched the impact of women’s philanthropy in preparation for this event, they learned many things. One thing they learned is that reliable evidence shows women who participate in donor education programs are more likely to give larger gifts, to give unrestricted gifts, to develop a long-term giving plan, and to hold leadership roles on nonprofit boards.

Kramer said the committee hopes at least 100 women will attend the G3 program. From advanced reservations, she believes there is a very good chance they will exceed that number.

Among the many goals of this program is to show women how philanthropy can change throughout their lives, thus making the program multi-generational. They hope young women just out of college will attend, as well as women who are enjoying their golden years.

“It’s going to speak to different generations about how to give in your lifetime because what you do in your 20s is not the same as what you will do in your 50s or your 70s. But there’s always a way to be philanthropic and support things you are passionate about. It doesn’t take a lot of money to make an impact,” Kramer said.

She believes the event will be a great way for women to learn how to make a difference with their own gift.

“I think it’s nice to realize that you can give it in your own right and make your own choice about it,” Kramer said.

To Kramer, another important piece of the program is to help women learn how to choose who they want to give time or money to.

“A lot of times you give because you have a friend who is working on this project or that project. I think it’s important to give not because your friend likes it, but to really figure out what that group is doing, to learn how they spend their money and figure out if it is something that you really want to support,” she said.

Kramer also pointed out it’s not always the dollar amount that makes a gift meaningful.

“A gift can be meaningful if it’s what you can do, and it makes you feel good about what you’re doing and what you’re supporting,” she continued.

The upcoming event excites Sosland-Edelman.

“I am excited to bring a group of Jewish women together who are motivated to learn and grow in their understanding of how they can make a difference individually and collectively. When I think about that morning, I imagine a room full of energy, a kind of energy that only women working together can generate,” she said.

The G-3 Summit

The G-3 Summit: A Woman’s Guide to Good Giving will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, at the Jewish Community Campus. It is co-sponsored by Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City and the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.

The G-3 Summit will feature breakout sessions, networking with other women and a kosher brunch. Registration is required. For more information about cost or to register, contact Beverly Jacobson, Women’s Division director at 913-327-8108, or visit www.jewishkansascity.org/g3summit2011.aspx.

“Let’s go to Katz.”

For much of the first half of the 20th century, this would be the common rallying cry for families in downtown Kansas City looking to do a little shopping. After all, in 1917 Katz Drug Stores were not the typical pharmacy. At Katz, they advertised “over 25,000 items at deep cut prices.” Over the years their inventory would go on to include cameras, cosmetics, clocks, shirts, pets and a large selection of discounted smokes, beer and whiskey. This diverse selection of products combined with discount prices in a pre-Wal-Mart world made Katz Drug Stores an innovator in retail.

The story of the two brothers who founded Katz is now chronicled in a new book entitled “The Kings of Cut-Rate: The Very American Story of Isaac and Michael Katz.” Written by local reporter and author Brian Burnes with information and stories coming from Isaac’s (Ike) grandson Steve Katz, the book covers how these two sons of immigrants went from selling fruit in Kansas City’s West Bottoms to running a successful chain of drug stores throughout the Midwest.

“I decided I wanted to write the book when I first became a grandfather 11 years ago,” Steve Katz said. “Now I have six grandchildren. I want them to share in the experience.”

Three years ago, Katz was invited on Father’s Day to speak about Katz Drug Stores at Kansas City’s Central Library downtown. When 170 people showed up, he knew there was an interest, and he teamed up with Burnes to finally get the book written.

A book signing with Steve Katz and author Brian Burnes will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at The Kansas City Store, 312 Ward Parkway, on the Country Club Plaza. The pair will also  launch the book with a discussion at 2 p.m. Oct. 30, at the Plaza Library. The library encourages those planning to attend to register at http://kclibrary.org under “Events.”

Katz says that he has so many personal memories of Ike that he looks back on with fondness.

“As a youngster, I remember being bounced on his knee, nuzzled with his unshaven face, while he sang ‘Let Me Call You Sweetheart’ or ‘Roll Out The Barrel,’” he recalled. “He’d finish and let me tumble to the floor.”

Katz said he still remembers Ike walking from 12th & Baltimore to the office at 12th and Walnut, passing out gum and candy from his oversize pockets to the local children. A highlight for Katz was the Saturday lunches he shared with his grandfather on the balcony office at 12th and Walnut.

When he was older, Katz began working at the store. As a teenager he worked at the store located at 39th and Main and on Saturdays Ike would send him to run errands.

“Once, the Philharmonic came to Ike for a large sum of money,” Katz said. “He replied he didn’t like music that much but would donate to them each year if Philharmonic would play a free concert for his ‘friends.’ He always called his customers his friends. The Philharmonic performance became an annual event, with name stars in attendance for years.”

Passing the savings along to the customers

Ike and Mike brought a new concept of retailing. While routinely done today, Ike told reporters he discovered competitive prices while still running his fruit stand. For example, if competitors sold apples for 5 cents, Katz would advertise three apples for 10 cents. His competitive pricing quickly gave them an edge, attracting customers who were looking for extra value. The brothers would remember the lesson of charging low prices for high volume when they opened their two drug stores in downtown Kansas City.

Another innovative idea, “Katz pays the tax,” would prove to be even more successful. This slogan would come to represent the brothers’ most successful campaign.

It began during World War I when the U.S. government had instituted a 1-cent wartime tax on cigarettes. Katz Drug Stores were already selling cigarettes for 10 cents a pack, so a 1-cent increase was significant. While taking a walk through downtown Kansas City, Michael Katz noticed that some other stores had taken this opportunity to raise their prices even more for a little extra profit.

The Katz brothers decided to do something different. They didn’t raise their price at all. In their windows they hung a sign that read “Cigarettes at the same old price — Katz pays the tax.”

“That put Katz on the map, the national map,” Steve Katz said. “It was so successful that competitors began buying Katz cigarettes in bulk and then selling them to their customers. When the bothers learned of this, they branded each pack with the Katz logo. So no matter where the cigarettes were bought, people knew they were from Katz.”

Katz said that the brothers understood how important those savings could be for people.

“Ike would tell me he prefers fast nickels to slow dimes,” he said. “What I think may be lost today is the extra value that Katz offered. Not just with the savings, but in the care with which they treated people.”

It is indeed a Happy New Year for more than 60 people in the Jewish community who have been able to find jobs thanks, in part, to the efforts of Jewish Employment Services.

Celebrating its first anniversary, JES is a joint program of Jewish Family Services and Jewish Vocational Service. It was the brainchild of a handful of local Jewish business leaders that now comprise the JES Advisory Council. Its members include Larry Arlan, Pete Cabell, Bernie Fried, Michael Halpern, Alan Jacobson, Lou Kram and David Kroll. This group, along with Bill Lowenstein, saw a need to expand the services that were being provided to members of the Jewish community who had lost their jobs. The program has been funded by The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, the Jewish Heritage Foundation of Greater Kansas City and the Lowenstein Brothers Foundation.

In its first year, JES has worked with as many as 229 job seekers and currently has about 150 in the program. 
Job seekers work closely with Gayl Reinsch, JES director, who assists them directly or refers them to the appropriate JES resource staff for help. Counselors Cheryl Intrater and Joyce Hill help with career assessment and coaching, resume assistance and interview skills.

“JES was created to respond to a real need in our community — helping connect Jewish job seekers with actual employment,” said Don Goldman, JFS executive director. “This program is accomplishing that and more.”

“Developing JES has enabled Jewish Family Services and Jewish Vocational Service to leverage the strengths of both organizations in helping members of our community find jobs,” said Joy Foster, JVS executive director. While the career coaching service JVS had provided since 2001 helped many find employment, the new economic environment required stronger measures.

“In one way or another, JES helped more than 60 people find employment over the last year,” said Reinsch. “In addition to wonderful career coaches, JES offers a bi-monthly job club, intensive job search skills workshops and a job development service that connects job seekers directly to open positions.”

Among those JES and its staff has assisted in their job search is Debbie Snitz.

“I enjoyed the discussions which Joyce conducted at Job Club,” Snitz said. “Being part of a club also gave me support, assurance and the tips needed to keep me on my toes in my career search.”

The JES Job Club meets from 4 to 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month in the Multi Activity Center at the Jewish Community Campus. The Job Club explores topics of interest in the employment arena with presentations by employers and experts. It also provides a great networking opportunity.

JES also uses volunteers to mentor and network with participants. If you are interested in helping in this area please contact Reinsch.
Employers have also been pleased with the work of JES. Jim McNeile, a partner in the law firm of Cohen McNeile & Pappas, P.C., met with Reinsch to fill a key position at the firm.

“We had been looking for more mature workers to help round out our team of paralegals,” McNeile said. “It just so happened that she had a candidate in mind that turned out to be a great fit for us.”

The firm hired Alexis Rothenberg.

“The job is working out very well.... I really enjoy the people and the work,” Rothenberg said. She has since been promoted to a law clerk’s position.

Funders of JES have been pleased with the program’s efforts.

“The Jewish Federation has been behind the development and implementation of the Jewish Employment Services from the beginning, which is why we, along with the Lowenstein Brothers Foundation, have funded it since its inception,” said Todd Stettner, Federation executive vice president and CEO. “Thanks to the terrific teamwork of JFS and JVS, Jewish Employment Services got off the ground quickly to meet a groundswell of demand for the services it provides,”.

“We are delighted to be a part of this project,” said Ellen Kort, Jewish Heritage Foundation’s executive director. “The synergy between JVS, JFS and the volunteers who created the concept has been extraordinary, and it is a joy to see the fruits of this labor.”

The JES team continues to work hard to help job seekers; those wishing to connect directly with JES should email Reinsch at , attaching a resume, if they have one. For more information about the program in general, visit www.jvskc.org or www.jfskc.org/JES.

Members of The New Reform Temple learned this week that their former rabbi, Jacques Cukierkorn, is suing the congregation for breach of contract. The suit was filed in Johnson County District Court on Sept. 27.

Rabbi Cukierkorn was informed last December by NRT’s board of directors that his contract would not be renewed. A separation agreement was reached and the congregation and the rabbi officially parted ways in March.

In April, Rabbi Cukierkorn became a founding member of Temple Israel of Greater Kansas City. The Reform congregation now has a membership of 50-plus families and has rented space from Congregation Ohev Sholom in Prairie Village.

LATE-BREAKING NEWS — As we were almost done with the paper on Tuesday we received a report from JTA that a deal had been reached for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Details were sketchy but it appears a prisoner exchange agreement would free Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas-associated gunmen in a 2006 cross-border raid. Previous efforts to free him have been frustrated by Hamas demands that Israel release terrorists responsible for some of the deadliest attacks on Israel. If reports are true, we’ll have celebration photos to share with you in next week’s edition.

KOSHER CORNER — Check out the new Kosher Corner column. On the second week of each month you will find news about the Vaad as well as a new kosher recipe. If you have anything you think might be good for this column, be sure to contact Rabbi Mendel Segal at 913-223-1200 or .

THE FOLLY PRESENTS PETER NERO — Grammy-Award winning pianist Peter Nero makes his Folly Jazz Series concert debut on Saturday, Nov. 5, featuring his unique crossover jazz interpretations of the Great American Songbook, including works by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. With 68 recordings to his credit, Nero has recently been nominated for a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
This year is the 50th anniversary of Nero’s first album, which was recorded in 1961 and won him the “Best New Artist” Grammy that year. Since then, he has received another Grammy, garnered 10 additional nominations and released 68 albums.
For information regarding Nero’s performance at the Folly Theater, located at 12th and Central in Kansas City, Mo., call the box office at 816-474-4444,  or visit www.follytheater.org or ticketmaster.com.

Transportation to and fro is one of the biggest frustrations facing older adults who want to continue living in their own homes. So three years ago Jewish Family Services began tackling the problem by creating JET Express.

Dawn Herbet, JFS’s director of Older Adult Initiatives, explained that the JET Transportation Programs enable older adults age 65-plus, or those who have physical or mental disabilities, to stay active and independent, without driving their own car. The service is provided by volunteer drivers who use their own cars. It provides safe, personal, door-to-door transportation for such things as rides to the doctor, dentist, hairdresser, grocery store, volunteer commitments, synagogue or any activity keeping members active and independent.

“We can take them anywhere that helps keep them active and independent and lets them keep doing the things they want to do,” she said. The service costs $2.50 each way.

The program began, Herbet explained, because research showed that while there are transportation programs available in the city for people with lower incomes, there was still a gap in services.

“Those who had means were able to take cabs, but there was a need for those in the middle to afford a way to get to doctor’s appointments and food shopping and do the things that keep them active,” Herbet said.

Herbet said JFS learned about other volunteer driver programs in towns and determined it would be something that JFS could and should offer as well.

It doesn’t take much to qualify for the service. Other than age or disability, the only other qualification is that the person does not have transportation readily available. At this point, it is not able to accommodate anyone needing a wheelchair-accessible van.

“However, if any volunteer comes forth that has a wheelchair-accessible van, we would love to open up the service to those in wheelchairs. We can take those who are wheelchair-bound if they are able to transfer themselves in and out of the car,” Herbet said.

Currently 123 riders take advantage of JET Express. Sixty-five people make up the list of active drivers. JFS is currently recruiting more drivers.

“In order to meet the needs that we currently have, we desperately need more drivers,” Herbet said. “The demand is beyond the capabilities of what we can provide in certain months. Unfortunately there are times where we need to cancel because we don’t have the drivers and we truly want to help everyone get to where they want to go.”

In the past three years, Herbet said the amazing thing she has learned about the volunteer drivers is that they feel they are helping themselves as much as those who need the rides.

“They are forming relationships and feel good knowing they are creating a mitzvah and truly helping another human,” Herbet said.
Drivers need to be 21 years of age or older and have a clean driving record, along with a working car. They also need a valid driver’s license and personal car insurance. JFS provides secondary insurance on the drivers. Drivers are reimbursed 33 cents per mile.

“We do drug tests and we do background screens,” Herbet continued. “None of our drivers have ever had an accident in the two years we’ve been doing this program.”

Herbet said JET Express tries to make the program as convenient as possible for the drivers. Drivers can check the website anytime day or night and sign up for whatever times are convenient for them. They don’t have to commit to a certain amount of hours each week and they are free to take vacations or time off whenever necessary.

“We are truly thankful whether a driver can drive once a month or once a week to help older adults in our community,” she said.

Volunteer driver Jim Miller, who is not Jewish but thoroughly enjoys helping people in any way he can, said JET Express is very easy to deal with.

“They understand if I’ve got to take time to take care of things for myself,” he said.

A former employee of the Boy Scouts of America, Miller truly believes in the saying, “The service we give is the rent we pay for the space we occupy.”

Herbet said JET Express has gone beyond the expectations the social service agency had dreamed.

“We help people all the time get to where they want to go, but I think it’s more the personal stories, the friendships that have been formed and the care our drivers give our riders. That has certainly gone beyond the expectations we had. I had no idea the effect the drivers and the riders have had on each other,” Herbet said.

Barbara Steinberg used to drive herself everywhere, but mechanical troubles caused her to be without transportation. Now she loves JET Express.

“I called Jewish Family Services and all I can say is it gave me back my life. I was able to do things that I needed and wanted to do, like continuing to work in the Kehilath Israel Synagogue Sisterhood Gift Shop. I don’t know what I would have done without JET Express,” Steinberg said.

“The service has just been beyond my expectations. It’s been a pleasant surprise riding with those I know and I’ve become friends with ones I didn’t know. It’s been a lovely, lovely experience for me.”

JFS needs volunteers!

Adrienne Kizer, JFS’ director of volunteers and special projects, is spearheading an effort to recruit 50 volunteers for JFS’s older adult initiatives — JET Express and Help@Home — between now and the end of the year. She explained that both programs are designed to assist older adults with everyday things we may take for granted such as driving to a hair dresser, getting to the doctor’s office, hanging a picture, or setting up a new printer for our computer.

“As our community’s aging population continues to grow, our Help@Home and JET Express programs are called upon more than ever. To meet this growing demand and ensure our programs succeed in meeting the needs of our older adult population, JFS is looking to sign up 50 new volunteers by the end of 2011. Volunteering a couple of times a week, or even a few times a month, can mean the difference in helping older adults live independently in their own home and active in their community. And JFS volunteer programs are designed to make it convenient for everyone to volunteer — allowing you to schedule your volunteer time around your personal commitments,” Kizer said.

To learn more about volunteering for JFS, contact Adrienne Kizer at 913-327-8257 or .

Help@Home also enters third year

In addition to JET Express, JFS’s Help@Home project is also celebrating its third anniversary.

“We are up to 121 households serving more than 150 older adults and those who have physical or mental disabilities by providing minor home repairs, chore services, computer troubleshooting and annual home safety assessments. We’re available 24-7,” said Dawn Herbet, JFS’s director of Older Adult Initiatives.

JFS uses volunteers to supplement the work done by its “community handyman,” to do such things that they are comfortable doing such as changing light bulbs and computer troubleshooting. Participants in Help@Home are required to pay a fee that ranges from $7.50 to $79 to per month.

Marvin Hamlisch is a lucky man — and he tells you so.

Hamlisch — the legendary composer and winner of Oscars, Grammys, Emmys and Tony awards — may never have been born if it weren’t for his father’s smarts. Hamlisch will be in Kansas City on Thursday evening, Nov. 3, to perform as part of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education’s 18th Anniversary Celebration at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

During a recent interview, Hamlisch retold the story of his parents’ escape from Vienna back in the mid-1930s. His father, Max Hamlisch, was also a musician who traveled back and forth on the train to Lichtenstein for a musical job. The political climate was terrible with the Nazis all around. Marvin Hamlisch takes the story from there:

“A lot of Jews in Austria thought it was a passing phase but he didn’t. He was a very smart man and saw things coming. On one particular day the conductor said, ‘Max, don’t stay on this train.’ It was going someplace to round up Jews and take them to camps. My mother (Lilly) was such a good packer that she packed for my father and she put grapefruit into the bell of his saxophone. So when my father was confronted by an SS guy he tells him to pull down one of his cases and the SS opens it and turns it upside down and these three grapefruit come down on the officer. He was so embarrassed, that he sent my father to another compartment. . . and my father just jumped for it, and the people inside the train threw his instruments and suitcases off to him.”

In the meantime, Hamlisch’s mother Lilly was hustled out of Vienna in the back of a car with a blanket over her. She made it into Switzerland where she briefly worked with children.

“My mother was fantastic with children, and they offered her to stay and teach but she and my father had other plans,” Hamlisch said.

Those plans were a rendezvous in England and sailing for America.

“They arrived in America on Thanksgiving Day but they didn’t know anything about it,” he said. “They were picked up and taken to this fantastic dinner and thought that’s how everything would be, but the next day reality set in.”

That reality included settling in New York City and raising Marvin, who was a musical genius at a young age. Hamlisch said being Jewish impacted his upbringing.

“Jewish parents tend to advocate for a good education and my parents did, and that led me to Juilliard,” he said.

Hamlisch was 7 when he first started at Juilliard’s professional division for children. He was the youngest student ever accepted into the program. He attended P.S. No. 9 in New York City, later going on to Queens College where he took night classes while he worked as a rehearsal pianist on Broadway during the day. Did Hamlisch want to be a professional musician like his father?

“I’m not sure it was about wanting to be,” said Hamlisch. “If you’re born with a talent it almost pushes you like a tide. When you’re born with a talent, that’s it.”

And if he hadn’t become an accomplished pianist, composer and songwriter, what would Hamlisch have done?

“It I wasn’t a musician, the thing I would have done is be a pediatrician,” he said. “I really like kids.”

Hamlisch has been a prolific composer for both the stage and screen. His vast body of work includes “They’re Playing Our Song” and “A Chorus Line,” for which his score won a Tony Award. That show holds a special place in his musical heart.

“My favorite piece is ‘At the Ballet.’ It is the heart and soul of the musical,” he said.

Hamlisch’s film work has included “The Way We Were” and “The Sting.”

These days, Hamlisch is on the road about 70 percent of the time with concerts of his own or as conductor and musical director for other stars, including Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba in the musical “Wicked”.

He is also the principal pops conductor for a number of orchestras including those in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Dallas.

“We are so thrilled to have someone as accomplished as Marvin Hamlisch with us,” said Barbra Porter Hill who, along with her husband, Ron Hill, and Rich and Judy Hastings are co-chairing MCHE’s celebration. “He brings his personal story along with him and that ties right into MCHE and our goals to educate and remember.”

When he’s not on the road, Hamlisch loves spending time with his wife of 23 years, Terre Blair, and watching baseball. He’s an avid New York Yankees fan.

“I still have the first Yankees shirt I got at age 6,” he said. “I’ve been a fan for 40 years.”

And he’s writing.

“I always prefer writing, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like conducting,” Hamlisch said.
Hamlisch is currently working on a Broadway show with DreamWorks, which he hopes will be done in two years. He couldn’t give many details about the show other than to say, “It’s about real people doing real things.”

For the Kansas City concert, Hamlisch has put together a special program.

“I will choose things that are appropriate,” he said. “There will be special moments . . . (but) I never do a concert of all my own music. I don’t want people to think it’s all about me.”

MCHE celebrates 18 years

MCHE will celebrate its 18th anniversary and honor the Kansas City Jewish community’s Holocaust survivors at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Marvin Hamlisch will perform along with featured singer Mark McVey, who made his Broadway debut as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables.” For information on patron opportunities and donor tickets, visit www.mchekc.org, call 913-327-8192 or email .

SIGNS, SIGNS — Remember the song “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band. There’s a verse in it where the guy goes to a church and sees a sign that says “Everybody welcome. Come in, kneel down and pray.” When he doesn’t have any money to put in the collection plate, he writes his own note saying, “Thank you, Lord, for thinking about me, I’m alive and doing fine.” I thought of this, and chuckled, when I saw this photo of the sign posted outside at Congregation Ohev Sholom directing members of Ohev and Temple Israel to their respective locations for worship services on Rosh Hashanah. This sign is functional and a sign of our times, physically showing how the Jewish community is beginning to cooperate and collaborate. Right on!

SHABBAT SHALOM — On Friday night, soley as a member of the Jewish community and NOT as the editor of The Chronicle, I attended erev Shabbat worship services at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. Members of Congregation Beth Torah were invited to worship that evening with B’nai Jehudah. It is Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff’s practice to invite a guest speaker every year on Shabbat Shuvah, and this year he chose to invite Rabbi Mark Levin to fill that role. I told several people in attendance that I was not reporting on the event. But, I can’t resist telling everyone who wasn’t there what a marvelous experience they missed. B’nai Jehudah’s chapel was literally busting at the seams. As a lifelong Kansas City resident, it was an experience I will never forget. g. It ended with everyone singing, arms linked together, “Henei ma tov umanaim, shevet achim gam yachad.” Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers (and sisters) to dwell together. May we continue to see more of this spirit of cooperation throughout the year 5772. Happy New Year!

ROSH HASHANAH IN THE ROCKIES — For the second time Barbara and Chuck Gorodetzky of Congregation Kol Ami joined their son David on a Rosh Hashanah Retreat led by the Adventure Rabbi Jamie Korngold. David lives in Boulder, Colo., and serves on the Leadership Council of the Adventure Rabbi. The retreat was held at Snow Mountain near Winter Park, Colo. In another Kansas City connection, Rabbi Korngold grew up in New Jersey and was trained for her Bat Mitzvah by Cantor Paul Silbersher, who lived in New Jersey at the time.

BUBBIES, ZAYDIES AND GRANDPARENTS WANTED — One of the reasons The PJ Library, a program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, is so successful is because it’s the perfect intergenerational program. Grandparents (or other special persons) are invited to two programs a year that they attend along with children ages 2 years through pre-Kindergarten. Of course grandparents can participate anytime by reading Jewish books — participants get one free in the mail every month — to their grandchildren. Up until now, grandparents have learned about these programs through their children. But now The PJ Library’s grandparents committee is putting together a data base so that these people can be emailed directly about upcoming programs. If you are a grandparent or fill the role of a grandparent and want to be included on this list, send your email address to Karen Gerson, CAJE’s director of informal education, at . If you already have a 2012 calendar handy, make sure you mark 9:30 a.m. Feb. 5 for the next event at Kehilath Israel Synagogue.

PATHS OF REPENTENCE — On Erev Rosh Hashanah, Congregation Beth Torah debuted its new hardcover contemporary machzor with inspirational sidebar readings. It’s an updated version of the contemporary version of the High Holy Days service Beth Torah, its rabbis and volunteers put together several years ago. The cover art was done by Jeffrey Owen Hanson, “a visually impaired artist born with neurofibromatosis and an optic nerve tumor, who believes every act of kindness helps create kinder communities, more compassionate nations, and a better world for all … even one painting at a time.” I’m guessing Beth Torah is the only congregation in town who has put together its own hardcover machzor. It’s beautiful, inside and out.