National Council of Jewish Women Greater Kansas City Chapter (NCJW) announces its 2020 award recipients. Each of these award-winning women works to sustain and support quality of life for Kansas City families through their volunteerism. Each woman truly embodies the values of NCJW.
Blanche E. Sosland is the 2020 recipient of the Community Service Award. This award is presented to an NCJW member who exemplifies the mission of NCJW.
Sosland is professor emerita at Park University where she taught for 20 years in the department of education. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College and Columbia University and her Ph.D. from UMKC.
Sosland is co-author of two books with SuEllen Fried, “Banishing Bullying Behavior” and the recently published “Banishing Bullying Behavior from Early Childhood through Senior Adulthood.” She is a member of the Beth Shalom Sisterhood Banishing Bullying Behavior Project. She is also a presenter and author of numerous articles on “Twice-exceptional Children — children who are both gifted and have a learning disability.” This is the subject of the book she is currently writing.
Sosland has been a member of NCJW for 62 years, she joined when she arrived in Kansas City as a young bride. She was a charter member of Midwest Center for Holocaust Education and Women’s Employment Network.
Her parents escaped Nazi Germany in 1934 and were eternally grateful for the life they were able to live in the U.S. They modeled community service for Sosland and her sister Ruth.
Sosland and husband Neil are the parents of Dr. Debbie-Sosland Edelman and Alan Edelman; Josh Sosland and Dr. Jane Mailman Sosland; Abby Sosland, J.D., and Mark Goodman; Dr. Jeff Sosland and Mindy Weisenberg Sosland; David Sosland and Dr. Rachel Pase Sosland; 15 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. When asked about what volunteering has taught her, Sosland said, “The most obvious is that the rewards of volunteering are so much greater for the volunteer than they are for the recipient.”
Jannie Cubbage is the 2020 recipient of the Jennie Levitt Award. This award is presented to an NCJW member who shows leadership ability. Cubbage is a lifelong Kansas Citian and spent 23 years working for DST Systems after graduating from the University of Michigan; she also had a short stint at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. For the past seven years, Cubbage has worked for the Blue Valley School District. Prior to joining the staff at the district office, she volunteered many hours supporting the schools her two children attended.
Cubbage is beginning her second term on the NCJW board of directors and has been actively involved with the NCJW Back to School Store as volunteer coordinator since 2017. The Back to School Store provides clothing and school supplies to around 300 children each summer. Cubbage has two children: Carly and husband David, and son Clay. She and her husband Patrick live in Overland Park where they enjoy watching K.C. sports teams (not this year!), supporting community organizations, and following local and national politics.
When asked what volunteering has taught her, Cubbage said, “Volunteering has given me the chance to share meaningful experiences with like-minded women. I am a big believer in our responsibility to repair the world (tikkun olam) and think this quote is very applicable: ‘No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another.’ ”
Sharon Mallin is the 2020 recipient of the Emerging Leader Award. This award is presented to an NCJW member who exhibits leadership. Mallin was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She is a first generation American and her parents were Holocaust survivors. She is married to Jeffrey and has two married children: Melissa and husband Chris Carley and Zach and wife Lindsey Mallin.
Before becoming a full-time mother, her professional career was in the banking and mortgage business, working at Kansas National Bank and Coldwell Banker Mortgage Company. A longtime community volunteer, Mallin’s efforts include teaching English as a second language in the Blue Valley School District, Kehilath Israel preschool, JCC, Cub Scouts, Kansas City Hospice, JFS and NCJW. She especially enjoyed volunteering at her children’s schools.
When asked what volunteering has taught her, Mallin said, “There are so many wonderful organizations and a great need in our community. I am very fortunate to be able to volunteer and give back.”
If you would like to honor these award recipients through a contribution to NCJW, you may do so at National Council of Jewish Women, 5311 W 75th St., Prairie Village, KS 66208.