Torah and Taverna: Sephardic night of Torah, live music, tea, and games—reviving the spirit of the historic Ladino-speaking taverna.
Help us bring a new program to life! Torah and Taverna is a new quarterly Thursday night gathering that brings the spirit of the historic Sephardic taverna into modern Jewish life. Inspired by the underground social clubs of 20th-century New York, where Sephardic Jews gathered to hear live music, play sheshbesh (backgammon), sip tea or smoke hookah, and speak Ladino while debating politics, Torah, and current events, this program offers a soulful revival of that tradition. We're inspired by sister Congregation Kehila Kedosha Janina (Romaniote) in NYC, whose Torah and Taverna program has enriched their community to great success! Hosted by Congregation Ahavath Achim—Portland's historic Sephardic synagogue—we envision each evening begins with an hour of Torah study, followed by two hours of live Sephardic music, light refreshments, tea, games, and open community space. It's a celebration of culture, learning, and connection that welcomes Jews of all backgrounds while preserving a uniquely Sephardic voice. Your support will help us cover $200 for musicians and $100 for refreshments, and $60 for decorations, totaling $1,400 for a year of programming. If you'd like to sponsor just one event, we ask for $360. Together, we can honor the past while building a vibrant future for Sephardic life in Oregon.

Jewish Special Needs Retreat is a place for families to experience the magic of outdoor camp while enhancing Jewish identity and teaching Jewish values.
Children with special needs are rarely able to attend an outdoor summer camp, and Jewish children, in particular, are often unengaged and underrepresented. At Camp Solomon Schechter, we believe that all Jewish children benefit from the Jewish Camp Experience. Our weekend long, Jewish Special Needs Retreat will include activities such as: exploring Israeli music and dance, tefillah and Shira, athletics and art. Daily study sessions for parents will be offered to explore a variety of issues surrounding raising Jewish children with special needs. Each family will stay in a cabin that includes private bathrooms with showers. Camp Solomon Schechter is looking to secure funds to offset the expense of conducting a Special Needs Retreat, allowing us to keep the costs to the participants low, encouraging more families to participate. Funds provided will help us purchase supplies for activities, offer kosher food during the weekend-long retreat, bring in a contract mental health worker to help lead support sessions for parents and market the retreat to reach a broader Jewish audience.

Greater Portland Hillel's Back-to-School Shabbat
This year, we are hosting a welcome back Shabbat dinner for students on September 5th. We would like to create a fun and welcoming environment to get them excited about all the Jewish events and opportunities we have in store for the year. We are hoping to have a dressy attire event with great catering, a beautiful set up with tablecloths, elegant decor, and pictures from our successes last year. We would love for some form of live music as well. We hope to create a meaningful and useful keepsake, perhaps Shabbat flower bouquets, challah covers, or some form of apparel. We of course want to make this a fully accessible event by providing rideshare service to students who do not have cars.

PDX Hillel Rosh Hashanah Apple Picking 5786
Last year, PDX Hillel hosted the first annual Rosh Hashanah apple picking event at Douglas Farm on Sauvie Island. The event was a big hit with over 70 students from many of our campuses picked apples, made friends, learned about Rosh Hashanah and heard the blast of the shofar. The event was funded with a back to school grant which has not yet been made available this year, but we want to make sure the event can happen again no matter what! Funds will be used to hire a bus picking up students from Lewis and Clark, Reed and Portland State, reimburse students gas for carpools as well as entrance fees and self-picked apples for every student.

Projector for Learning & Connection
Help us transform our Social Hall into a more vibrant, inclusive, and functional space with the installation of a high-quality laser projector. This upgrade will enhance our ability to host dynamic events, lectures, services, and community programs with professional-level visual support. Your gift will directly improve the experience for attendees of all ages and backgrounds, including those joining us for cultural, educational, and religious gatherings.

Support social and physical development in Jewish early childhood!
Your donation will help us build out our brand new outdoor play space to support children's physical and social development in holistic ways. A connection with nature is an important Jewish value, and is imperative for emotional and physical well-being. Your donation will contribute to climbing equipment that fosters children's love of the outdoors and play! At the Jennie, it is our mission to provide the highest quality care to children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, and their families. The Jennie is built on a foundation of inclusion – we are intentionally creating a diverse Kehillah, the Hebrew word for community, that celebrates all our children and their families. The Jennie provides an enriching environment interwoven with Jewish values, promoting a nurturing space for children to develop. We value creativity, togetherness, and kindness towards our peers and the environment. We believe that children know themselves best and are ready to take in all the learning we can offer, and teachers act as guides along a child's developmental journey.

PJA Tuition Assistance
PJA is proud to be able to offer tuition assistance to numerous families, including over half of day school families and dozens of families in our Early Childhood program. Out of 170 Day School students last year, 90 received aid (53%). As of last year, preschool costs were $19,960/year. Lower School was $24,480 and Middle School was $25,530. In the Day School, the average financial aid given is $10,900. Average out- of-pocket costs for students on tuition assistance are $14,294 (Day School). This aid is made possible thanks to the generosity of our donors and to the success of our Annual Auction. Even with our current level of generous support, however, we know that we lose students who would like a Jewish education, because they simply cannot afford to pay tuition at the level we require. Due to concerns over the cost of tuition, we see a drop-off in families particularly during transition years such as pre-kindergarten to kindergarten, kindergarten to 1st grade, and from 5th grade to middle school.

Support for PJA's 8th Grade Travel Experience
Each year our 8th grade students embark on a transformative travel experience. In more typical years, we take our students to Israel for a two-week exploration of the land and people of Israel. While in Israel, students pray at the Wall, float in the Dead Sea, ride camels, hike Masada, and explore the Old City of Jerusalem. They also visit Yad Vashem, participate in service learning activities, and, of course, sample delicious Israeli foods. The past two years, due to the unpredictable situation in the Middle East, our students instead took a domestic trip to two important US cities--Washington DC and New York City. Students visit museums galore in DC, explore the historic streets of Old Town Alexandria, and tour several memorials and Arlington National Cemetery. In New York students take walking tours of Hasidic Brooklyn, lower Manhattan, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. They attend a Broadway show and tour the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and learn about where many of their ancestors landed when they first came to the United States. Regardless of which trip 8th graders take, there are opportunities to learn, grow, deepen their knowledge, strengthen their Jewish pride and bond with their classmates. These trips are expensive, however, and many families struggle to afford the full cost. PJA strives to offer scholarship assistance to those families who need it, yet there are years we cannot meet the full need.

Synagogue CRM Transition Support
We are Portland's only Mediterranean Sephardic community, and have been keeping our traditions for over 100 years. After almost 20 years of service, our synagogue's administrator and bookkeeper are both stepping down, leaving behind a patchwork of spreadsheets and documents. We are at a pivotal moment where we must modernize our infrastructure to sustain operations and grow our small Sephardic congregation, the only one of it's kind in the greater Portland area, or else our doors will close. A community is not it's building; a community is it's relationships. We need technical infrastructure to bring those relationships to scale. We are seeking financial support to implement Easy Shul, a comprehensive synagogue CRM platform that will ensure a smooth staff transition and dramatically improve member engagement, financial transparency, and communication. Easy Shul includes a full membership database, donation tracking, Meldado (Yahrzeit) notifications, integrated accounting, event and education modules, and member self-service tools. It will replace our outdated systems and empower us to welcome new members and reconnect with existing ones. Your gift will directly fund the CRM's costs for a year. With your support, we will build a more organized, welcoming, and spiritually vibrant community and preserving Sephardic Heritage for the next generation.

Support our efforts to help individuals in our community gain employment and achieve long-term self-sufficiency through job training, career support, and critical wraparound services.
We are seeking support to expand our employment and self-sufficiency programming, which empowers individuals in our community to build sustainable futures through job training, career development, and holistic support. Many of our participants face significant barriers to employment—such as economic instability, limited access to education or childcare, language and cultural challenges, or histories of trauma and displacement. Without targeted support, these barriers can keep individuals and families trapped in cycles of poverty and dependence. Our program addresses these challenges head-on. We offer practical workforce readiness training, one-on-one career coaching, financial literacy workshops, and individualized support services that meet people where they are. Participants learn job search strategies, build confidence, gain critical skills, and access opportunities that lead to stable, meaningful employment. We also partner with local employers, community agencies, and social service providers to create a strong pipeline of opportunity. The results are tangible: participants gain jobs, retain them, and begin to achieve greater independence and long-term financial stability. With increased funding, we can serve more individuals, deepen our wraparound services, and enhance outcomes through job placement partnerships, transportation support, and post-employment follow-up. Your support will help change the trajectory of someone's life—turning hardship into hope, and instability into a path forward.

JFCS Drop-In Support Groups
JFCS is seeking funding to sustain and support our vital drop-in group therapy programs—welcoming, supportive spaces where individuals can find connection, healing, and hope during some of life's most difficult times. These groups offer comfort to those experiencing grief, loss, or major life transitions, and are facilitated by our compassionate, experienced staff and volunteers. Participants benefit from meaningful peer-to-peer support, reminding them that they are not alone. We offer these groups both in person and virtually to ensure accessibility for all, but we cannot do it without your help. Your generous gift will allow us to continue providing this critical service, reach more people in need, and build a stronger, more connected community. With your support, we can ensure that this resource is always available—for those who need it today and for those who may need it tomorrow.

MJCC Warm Pool Operations
The MJCC's warm water pool is a vital community resource that serves some of our community's most vulnerable. It is the last remaining pool in the Portland-metro area that is open to the public. In addition to being a place of health and healing for those recovering from injuries or experiencing chronic conditions, it is also an ideal environment in which to get our youngest swimmers comfortable in the water and teach them essential water safety and swimming skills.

Camp Solomon Schechter immerses youth in Jewish rituals and identity, balancing learning with living Jewish principles. Our new project-based program deepens campers' connection to Jewish history.
Jewish summer camp is a magical place where youth can immerse themselves in their Jewish identity and rituals. At Camp Solomon Schechter, we prioritize Jewish rituals by practicing what we teach. Campers don't just learn about keeping kosher—they live it. They don't just learn about challah—they braid it, bake it, and enjoy it together. Here, Jewish principles are not only understood but truly lived. Recognizing the importance of balancing Jewish living with acquiring knowledge, we are introducing a transformative project-based learning initiative as part of our camp experience. In this program, campers will explore the rich timeline of Jewish history and update the Beit Knesset timeline. Each cabin will delve into a specific period in Jewish history, gaining in-depth understanding while creating their interactive segment of the timeline. The project will culminate in a camp-wide unveiling of the updated timeline, fostering active engagement and a profound connection to their heritage. To make this enriching experience accessible to more Jewish youth, we are offering scholarships for underprivileged children to attend camp. We seek your support to provide these opportunities and ensure more children can connect deeply with their Jewish roots.

MJCC Day Camp Scholarships
MJCC Day Camp is a safe and fun way for local kids to spend their summer. Our Day Camp is open to all and is especially enticing to working families who rely on full-day supervision for their children. Campers participate in lots of fun activities including swimming, sports, arts & crafts and Jewish experiences such as our weekly Kabbalat Shabbat celebration. Scholarships for families of limited means are in high demand and funding will allow us to serve even more children at our enriching summer Day Camp.