Congregation Agudas Israel ~ Todd Kelson
Todd Kelson joined Congregation Agudas Israel in 1994. He and Sharon were married by Agudas’ Rabbi Aaron Michaelson in 1997. He has served on the CAI Board for many years, first joining the Board in 1997, and served two consecutive terms as Board Chair. Todd is currently our Cemetery Committee Chair, and has just been appointed for another term in this position. Todd takes care of helping families through the difficult process of burying their family member with care and consideration, as well as handling all of the cemetery maintenance.
In addition, Todd served on the Board of the Newburgh JCC for many years, including two terms as Board President. He is proud to be a member of the Board of Directors of Access: Supports for Living and its predecessor organizations, Family Counseling Service of Orange County and Occupations, Inc. since 1994, and has served three terms as Chair of the Access Board.
Thank you Todd for all that you do in support of your CAI community!

Congregation Beth Hillel/WJCC ~ Anne Klingner
Congregation Beth Hillel/Walden Jewish Community Center has selected Anne Klingner as our 2025 Federation Volunteer of the Year.
Anne has been a member of our Congregation for many years and has become more active in recent years. She brings her bright and positive energy and enthusiasm to every task and committee she serves on. Anne is a do-er who shows up ready to help with her honesty, intelligence and insight. Plus, she makes everything more fun!
Anne has a long history of serving, organizing and getting things done. She has worked for years at the Mental Health Association supporting families and people with developmental disabilities. As a parent and community activist, Anne was an instrumental part of a grassroots effort to create small group housing for adults with developmental disabilities.
 Congregation Beth Hillel/Walden Jewish Community Center is proud and fortunate to call Anne one of our own and we look forward to her continued participation and contributions in the years to come.

Congregation Eitz Chaim ~ Michael Schack
Michael has been involved in Eitz Chaim for over 40 years. As the years went by he became more and more committed to learning - and then leading- the prayer services as the "gabbai," the definition of which means "man of all work in the synagogue." He has continued to learn all parts of the service, including haftorah trope, maftir trope, chazanute, reading magillah, and having fun with his deeply serious Purim Shpiel(s)! He prepared Rebecca and Zoe for their Bat Mitzvahs and many many of Eitz Chaim's Hebrew School children as well as they passed through our doors of many different building. He also served as President of the Shul and as a member of the religious committee , and - as you can all probably remember - he was also the "Kol Nidre Nudge" - prodding congregants to contribute for a great cause - the mitzvah of supporting our wonderful shul. Rabbis may come and go but Michael has been devoted to filling almost every role here at Eitz Chaim - which now includes writing weekly Dvar Torahs based on the weekly Torah portion, interpreting scripture with new takes on our age-old stories with humor and, oftentimes, with an eye and ear to trying to understand our changing political vicissitudes and how the lessons of our biblical forefathers can shine a light on human nature.

Congregation Eitz Chaim ~ Karen Fischer
Karen Fischer and her family joined Congregation Eitz Chaim in Monroe 33 years ago, upon their move to Orange County, and immediately found a home-away-from-home. In her second year at the shul, Karen participated in an adult b'not mitzvah class in which she deepened her knowledge of Jewish holidays and learned the Torah trope. This skill came in handy later on when Karen became a gabbai. Twenty years and counting, she continues to serve our congregation in that capacity, helping to run our Shabbat morning services. Karen was also active in Sisterhood, eventually serving as president, and held positions on the synagogue's Board of Trustees, including as a member of the Rabbi Search committee and chairing the Ritual Committee. She is most proud of proposing, and then chairing the committee for, the establishment of Gan Shalom, the shul's nursery school. Karen is grateful and honored to receive this recognition from a community of people, grounded in Jewish values, that has enhanced her life spiritually, socially, intellectually and creatively

Congregation Eitz Chaim Sisterhood (MWJCC) ~ Rita Wincott
Rita Wincott was a founding member of Eitz Chaim. From day one she worked tirelessly for our sisterhood. She has managed every kitchen we occupied.
Whatever was needed for a smooth running of our shul Rita was there. It would be foolish to even try to list her accomplishments over the past 50 years. But when we needed a president and treasurer and kiddush boss she stepped in once again to offices she had already passed on to younger members. Suffice it to say she was the only one considered for this honor it was an easy choice.

Jewish Family Services ~ Claire Caspe
Claire Caspe has been a volunteer with Jewish Family Service of Orange County for just eleven months, but her impact has been nothing short of extraordinary. In this short time, she has generously donated over 220 hours of service, consistently stepping up to help those who need it most.
Claire frequently volunteers in hard-to-serve areas of the county where support is limited. She never hesitates to travel across Orange County to ensure our neighbors can attend essential appointments. Claire not only offers her time—she builds genuine, caring relationships with the people she serves and is always willing to go the extra mile to meet their needs.
Claire’s journey with JFS began after the passing of her husband, a time when she was seeking purpose and connection. She reached out to the Monroe Senior Center, who referred her to us. As Claire lovingly puts it, “I found my home.”
Her heart for service extends well beyond JFS. Claire is deeply active in her synagogue, where she has volunteered to paint the temple, assist with Bingo fundraisers, and tutor children in reading and math. She is also a devoted member of Hadassah, continuing to give back through their mission and activities.
Thanks to Claire’s unwavering dedication, many of our most vulnerable neighbors have received the transportation and support they otherwise would have gone without. As Claire herself says, “Now, being part of Jewish Family Service has given me a great feeling of being able to do more for other people.”
We are deeply grateful for the light Claire brings to our agency and community. Her service exemplifies compassion, reliability, and the true spirit of volunteerism.

Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County:
Jerry Goldberg - Monroe Temple - Beit Sefer trip to the Museum at Eldridge Street
Which included a walk to the historic Essex Market for lunch and a quick stop at Economy Candy – New York’s oldest family-owned candy shop since 1937.

Hannah Shinder - Temple Beth Shalom - NFTY-GER Havdallah Event
Hannah brought a Jewish teen event to TBS through the North American Federation of Temple Youth –Garden Empire Region aka NFTY-GER,
It was a Disney-themed Havdallah event at which there were social action/ Tikkun Olam activities, teaching recycling, and anti-bullying. The teens were left with a sense of joy for their heritage

Rabbi Rebecca Shinder - Temple Beth Shalom - 2 Beit Sefer Shul-ins, MoveMeant Purim Program---The Beit Sefer of Orange County offered 2 different Shul Ins to our community.
The first was the previous Spring beginning with a Shabbat service at the Monroe Temple. Students had an evening filled with music, crafts, a mitzvah project, Alef Bet Yoga, watching The Prince of Egypt, and a waffle breakfast! Building upon that success, we offered a Jewish Superhero themed Shul In both to our registered students and any school aged Jewish child living in Orange County. We filmed a promotional video and posted it on various websites and FB pages. We offered 2 different options for all the children to attend: either an evening from 5:30 - 8:00 pm or a full event to conclude at 9:00 am the following morning.
This November, the Jewish Superhero Shul In programs varied from name games, to superhero cape decorating, to learning a mensch song to making a mensch mural, to an interactive Superhero/ Jewish Hero Trivia contest, to Havdalah, to a nighttime outdoor adventure, to watching the film Superbuddies (because of tag line: You don't need to have superpowers to be a hero), to a morning Alef Bet Body creations to a final song session and dismissal.
Our MoveMeant Pre-Purim Shabbat Experience was a creative expression of Jewish liturgy through music and movement. The chairs in our sanctuary were set in the round with our guest presenters singing and teaching in front of projections of the prayers. Each participant was given a clipboard with prompts to answer for self-reflection and personal connection to prayer. We studied a portion of the megillah by shared analysis of a piece of art created to illuminate the story. This event inspired our community to connect with our tradition in a unique way.

Sharon Ball - Temple Beth Shalom - 2^nd Night Seder
The goal of TBS’s 2^nd night Seder is to welcome anyone in the Orange County Jewish community to share in a Seder so that everyone has a place to go. They have been providing this to the community for several years, and in 2024 had nearly 75 people participate. With expenses rising, the funding from Federation allowed them to keep up this wonderful tradition.

Ellen Levine - Monroe Temple - Gil Hofman Lecture
We thank you so much for wanting to recognize our efforts! This program was pulled together with the efforts of our small Israel Ed committee - we all worked so hard together on that and the other projects that Federation has helped us with! Our committee includes Doris Kossover, Sharon Goldberg, Illisa Lipkin, Diane Rowe and Betsy Utnick. - Diane Rowe, especially, was the initiator on the Gil Hoffman event, and worked right next to Ellen on getting Gil here!

Tepper Saffren - B'nai Torah Shul - 2^nd Night SederTepper provided a revitalized Seder with music, acting, and community connection for attendees at B’nai Torah Shul. This helped them take the teaching “let all who are hungry come and eat” very seriously and they were able to provide a wonderful experience for those who attende

Marjorie Sweet - Congregation Beth Hillel - Trip to Forestburgh Playhouse 
For the 2^nd year in a row, Cong. Beth Hillel coordinated this trip – this year seeing the musical: Beautiful – the Carol King Story. The trip provided a great opportunity for the community to enjoy a social & cultural experience as a community, and help the synagogue broaden their program offerings for those seeking alternative connections to the Jewish community.

Stacey Yerger and (Raena Korenman and Susan Notar) - Kol Yisrael - October 7^th commemoration
These ladies coordinated, in conjunction with the Federation sponsored Jewish Book Council, a wonderful speaker and program to mark 1 year since the attack on Israel on October 7^th. Their program was respectful and meaningful, and the speaker from the Book Council spoke about what it was like to interview survivors of the attacks for the book that she wrote.

Catherine Greenblatt - Temple Beth Shalom - 2^nd day Rosh Hashanah at Mountain Lake Park.
The goal of our non-traditional, 2^nd Day Rosh HaShanah, lakeside service at the site of the former Kutz Camp in Warwick was to draw in young families and other non-affiliated Jews.
The ‘money situation’ is always a challenge in a synagogue's budget. Funds were needed for the rental of the pavilion at the Warwick Park, security, and of course, food. Thanks to the microgrant program, we were able to receive funds to help alleviate the cost of this program.
The response was astounding. So many people attended: Congregants, non-congregants, and even friends of Wendy Cedar from their time at the Kutz Camp! Many of the attendees would not have observed Rosh HaShana; this lakeside experience was an opportunity for them to reconnect with their Judaism without entering a synagogue - a shul without walls.
Without the microgrant, this Lakeside Experience may not have come to fruition.
Catherine was unable to join us today.

Kol Yisrael ~ Mark LaKritz
Mark is a founding member of the Kol Yisrael joint planning committee, which facilitates joint programming between all three of the Kol Yisrael partner organizations. He is always the first to volunteer his time and effort for event planning, preparation, and support. This year, Mark served as the Joint Planning Committee Chairperson, where he organized meetings, took notes, sent follow-ups, and tactfully pushed forward our programming agenda while keeping everyone organized and engaged.

Monroe Hadassah ~ Rochelle Marshall
Rochelle Marshall for the past year. Her dedication to Hadassah has always been equal to her love of Israel. In the past year, she has made several trips to Israel, volunteering for a variety of organizations and always visiting Hadassah’s hospitals. She took copious pictures, which we showed to several organizations when she returned, giving people here a good look at what was happening in Israel. She was interviewed on i24 several times, but it was her first interview that went viral on the internet. In each of those interviews, she spoke up with a heartfelt plea for Israel and Hadassah. She was also a stalwart at the rallies Hadassah co-sponsored with members from Eitz Chaim in Monroe, led by Ofer Zivan, who coordinates the WhatsApp Bring Them Home group texts that let people know if there will be a rally or cancelation. These rallies, began in response to the atrocities of October 7th, 2023, have been going on almost biweekly during the winter and weekly in good weather. They have been an inspiration in a time of despair, with people in cars waving and honking and passersby stopping to talk in support. We encourage you to join us.

Monroe Temple ~ Natalie Browne
Natalie is a long-time resident of Orange County who grew up at Monroe Temple, attending Torah School there and now sending her own children there as well.Natalie is not only a dedicated mother of two girls, she also works for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for many years.
Natalie is a strong supporter of "reduce, reuse, recycle" and has helped the Temple with fundraising efforts through its community yard sale.
She also played a key role in the fundraising efforts of our joint religious school, Beit Sefer, run in conjunction with Temple Beth Shalom, through a Murder Mystery dinner with the Golden Girls Theme.
Natalie has supported social and environmental action initiatives at the Temple, and has helped to create family bonds at Beit Sefer resulting in plans to begin a confirmation class for our B'nei Mitzvah youth.
In addition, Natalie has planned and executed the Girl Scout Shabbat Service at Monroe Temple for several years, bringing in girls from local girl scout troops around the area, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion as non-Jewish girls and families attended services as well as Jewish girls.
For all of these reasons, we are proud to name Natalie Browne as our Monroe Temple Volunteer of the Year!

Monroe Temple Beth-El Sisterhood ~  Audrey Wolf
Audrey Wolf, who is the Sisterhood Volunteer of the Year:
Audrey worked at NASA in Manhattan at Columbia University for almost 40 years. She was a Scientific Computer Programmer supporting NASA scientists studying climate modeling the Earth's atmosphere and doing data analysis.
She retired from Columbia in 2019 and is now working part time at the Woodbury Public Library.
She has been a volunteer at Orange County Jewish Family Services for the past five years.
She moved to Monroe with her daughter in 2011, and joined the Monroe Temple Sisterhood five years ago.
She has been a member of the Sisterhood board for two years.
During that time, she has quickly learned the operations of the board, moving from a position as trustee to Recording Secretary after just one year. She has enabled the Board to remain on track through her dedicated role on the executive board and goes above and beyond to help out with various events.
The Board is grateful to Audrey for her hard work and calm demeanor, and wholeheartedly name her as our Volunteer of the Year.

Newburgh Jewish Community Center ~ Mona Rieger
Mona is a long-time member of Newburgh Jewish Community Center and the Kol Yisrael community. Her volunteerism and support during annual events, fundraisers, and building improvement projects have been unwavering, often taking on a time-consuming role for each program. She adds an air of elegance and thoughtfulness to every project that she participates in.

Temple Beth Jacob ~ Ken Packer
Ken has been a member of Temple Beth Jacob for 46 years. He has served on the Board of Trustees, has been the Head Usher, and is currently the Chairman of the Cemetery Committee, a position he has held for the last 17 years. Ken works with families to do end of life planning and counseling, oversees the upkeep of the temple’s three cemetery locations, takes a lead role in Cemetery Fund Raising, insuring the financial stability of the Cemetery Fund which will make certain they have a forever beautiful sacred resting place for family and friends, and acts as the liaison between the Rabbi, the funeral home, and the family at the time of death and burial of a loved one.

Temple Beth Jacob Sisterhood ~ Stacey Yerger
Stacey has been a tireless volunteer for Temple Beth Jacob’s Sisterhood. We benefit from her boundless ideas and creativity. In addition to shopping, and cooking, Stacey’s beautiful decorations highlight every event. Prior to her Sisterhood career Stacey served as a religious school teacher and is past president of Temple Beth Jacob.

Temple Beth Shalom ~ Melissa Kleinman
The Board of Trustees and TBS leadership has chosen Melissa Kleinman as our Volunteer of the Year! When asked to join the Board and then re-up for a full-term Melissa said yes without hesitation. Both of our sons were in the same B'nei Mitzvah class, so I have seen firsthand Melissa's dedication to TBS. Her youngest child, Gavin, will have his Bar Mitzvah in the next school year. Yes, that will make 4 B'nei Mitzvah from the Kleinman Family right here at TBS! Amazing! We thank Melissa for being a dedicated congregant and volunteer for our family of families at TBS!

Temple Beth Shalom - Men's Club ~ Rich Schwartz  
The TBS Men's Club has selected Rich Schwartz as our Volunteer of the Year, an active member of the Men's Club as far back as we can remember! Rich is always a huge help with any event and willing to go the extra mile to make Men's Club outings special. When Eric Goodman became Co-President of TBS, he asked Rich to help run Men's Club. Rich became Social Chair and never looked back! Attending, organizing, contributing... Rich is on it!
Thanks Rich!

Temple Beth Shalom Sisterhood – Sharon Ball 
The Sisterhood of Temple Beth Shalom nominates Sharon Ball as our Sister of the Year 2025.
Sharon has always been an active member of the Sisterhood, attending all of our events, participating and supporting us.
At the beginning of each luncheon, dinner, or brunch Sharon leads the opening remarks, always finding the perfect poem, sayings and prayers of gratitude and sisterhood.
We only let her skip this duty once, and that was because she was meeting her grandson, Silas, for the first time, and I am sure she had a lovely introduction and will continue to set an example for him to be an active part of our Jewish community. Sharon is also our media source in our community to advertise our meetings and events, she makes sure all of our news gets into the Shofar and included in the temple email thread, even if you call very very late the night before the weekly blast!
The TBS Sisterhood appreciates Sharon and knows she makes our world a little brighter.