Rabbi Ellie Steinman and Marcia Silverberg enjoy the schmooze. Credit: Andrew Holmes 

By Jennifer Kohn Koppel 

Shalom Austin Jewish Foundation continued its year-long celebration of a milestone decade of generosity and impact with the annual Fundholder Appreciation Event in November.   

 Attendees reflected with Shalom Austin CEO Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus and Austin Community Foundation President and CEO Mike Nellis on the strength of this partnership to holistically serve fundholders and be a secure and competitive platform for the community’s philanthropic investments.     

An inspiring panel featured legacy donors who are ensuring the vibrancy of the community now and for the future. Fundholders Marvin Brittman, Amy Greenspan and Laraine Lasdon each spoke powerfully about their motivation to ensure that their values and the values of those who have shaped them are sustained in the Jewish community for the benefit of others. Each underscored the surprising accessibility of creating impact through a legacy gift.   

The audience identified with Greenspan when she emphasized that hers is not a family of generational or extreme wealth commonly associated with those who have named endowments, but through some intentional gift planning they were able to create the Elaine and Leon Lebowitz Eldercare fund to support seniors who are no longer able to live independently with their housing needs, that now serves as a perpetual multi-generational link between parents, children and grandchildren.    

Marcia Silverberg, Shalom Austin Jewish Foundation committee chair, joyously reported that the Foundation has grown to a family of funds that includes more than 180 Donor Advised, Donor Designated and Agency Endowed funds valued at nearly $20 million, and thanked all fundholders for their trust and confidence.  Marianne Rochelle,  Shalom Austin Jewish Foundation committee vice chair, expressed her excitement about Austin’s capacity to work with committed community members to make one of the most meaningful and enduring gifts to community organizations so that Austin remains a secure and vital place for Jewish families to thrive.