Making a Difference, Together

Dear Friends,

Last month, many members of the Foundation Family gathered together for our Annual Meeting to reflect on the successes of the past year, elect wonderful new leadership and celebrate 60 Years of Excellence in Impact. The Foundation was established 60 years ago “to ensure that our community would continue to be served, regardless of economic conditions or changing needs.” Since its founding, it has evolved and grown into an organization that serves as the focal point for planned giving and endowments and family philanthropy in the Jewish community of Kansas City, and as a model for Jewish community foundations throughout North America.

Today, the Foundation acts as a catalyst and a pathway for building a stronger Jewish community and, ultimately, a better world. It is a wonderful fusion of individuals, families, agencies and synagogues who share common values and a common purpose. It is each of you. By bringing your commitment, your leadership, your energy and your resources to the Jewish Community Foundation, you have created something special, something unique, something that is more than the sum of its parts. That something special is what we have become together. Thank you for being a part of the Foundation’s history and its future. As we enter 2020 together, may we go from strength to strength!

Alice Jacks Achtenberg, President, and Lauren Mattleman Hoopes, Executive Director

New JCF Scholarship to Benefit 28 Students Annually

In a new partnership that will benefit future college students on both sides of the state line, KC Scholars and the Jewish Community Foundation have established the KC Scholars: Abrams-Jewish Community Foundation Scholarship to provide 28 student scholarships for each of five years. The scholarship was created through a gift from the Charles and Evelyn Abrams Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation and will be leveraged 3:1 by generous KC Scholars donors. Scholarships will be available to both traditional students and adult learners. This donation represents the largest single gift in the history of KC Scholars.

During their lifetimes, Charles and Evelyn Abrams created a Charitable Remainder Trust that named the Jewish Community Foundation as the ultimate steward of their philanthropy, which focuses on education, food, and medicine for those in need. To honor their wishes, an advisory committee of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees directed a significant portion of the fund’s initial distribution to KC Scholars.

In addition to the higher education scholarship, the advisory committee of the Charles and Evelyn Abrams Fund also made gifts to Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy for K-12 scholarships and to Jewish Family Services for serving the medical and food needs of its clients.

The ability to support a donor’s favorite causes after lifetime or a term of years is just one benefit of creating a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT). A CRT is a tax-exempt irrevocable trust which provides income to the donor and/or another beneficiary, for life or for a term of years. Upon the death of the donor and/or the beneficiary, the remaining value of the trust will pass on to the Jewish Community Foundation and be used in accordance with the donor’s wishes. CRTs may be unrestricted, used to support a particular field of interest, or a specific organization or program.

“A Charitable Remainder Trust is just one example of how, with good planning, you are able to fulfill current and future goals through a charitable gift” said Josh Stein, JCF Director of Philanthropy. “We are always excited by the opportunity to help people develop and implement their charitable goals, often alongside their personal professional advisors.”

For more information about the KC Scholars: Abrams-Jewish Community Foundation Scholarship, visit kcscholars.org. To discuss a Charitable Remainder Trust or other planned gift, contact Josh Stein at (913) 327-8121 or jstein@jcfkc.org.