Join the Jewish Federation for our
50th Annual Meeting!
Sunday, June 7th | 10AM | In-person
Kol Yisrael | 290 North St, Newburgh
Federation Partner Synagogues and Organizations will
honor special individuals
who have shown outstanding service as their
Volunteers of the Year!
Election of Trustees will be held, only members* in good standing may vote
(*Membership requires a minimum gift of $36 to the 2025 Campaign.)
Light, dairy brunch will be served. No solicitation.
The event is free, but registration is required.
Please consider sponsoring this event below to help defray our costs.
Volunteer of the Year List 2024-2025
Volunteer of the Year List 2024-2025
Congregation Agudas Israel ~ Todd Kelson
Congregation Beth Hillel/Walden JCC ~ Anne Klingner
Congregation Eitz Chaim ~ Michael Schack & Karen Fischer
Congregation Eitz Chaim Sisterhood (MWJCC) ~ Rita Wincott
Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County ~
- Jerry Goldberg - Monroe Temple - Beit Sefer trip to the Museum at Eldridge Street
- Hannah Shinder - Temple Beth Shalom - NFTY-GER Havdallah event
- Rabbi Rebecca Shinder - Temple Beth Shalom -2 Beit Sefer Shul-ins & MoveMeant Purim program
- Sharon Ball - Temple Beth Shalom - 2nd Night Seder
- Ellen Levine (will be sharing this honor with her Israel Ed Committee Dorris Kossover, Sharon
Goldberg, Illisa Lipkin, Diane Rowe and Betsy Utnick - Monroe Temple - Gil Hofman lecture - Tepper Saffren - B'nai Torah Shul - 2nd Night Seder
- Marjorie Sweet - Congregation Beth Hillel - Trip to Forestburgh Playhouse
- Stacey Yerger (will be sharing the honor with Raena Korenman)- Kol Yisrael - October 7th Commemoration
- Catherine Greenblatt - Temple Beth Shalom - 2nd day Rosh Hashanah at Mountain Lake Park
Kol Yisrael ~ Mark LaKritz
Monroe Hadassah ~ Rochelle Marshall
Monroe Temple Beth-El~ Natalie Browne
Monroe Temple Beth-El Sisterhood ~ Audrey Wolf
Newburgh Jewish Community Center ~ Mona Rieger
Temple Beth Jacob ~ Ken Packer
Temple Beth Jacob Sisterhood ~ Stacey Yerger
Temple Beth Shalom ~ Melissa Kleinman
Temple Beth Shalom Men’s Club ~ Rich Schwartz
Temple Beth Shalom Sisterhood ~ Sharon Ball
Volunteer of the Year Bios
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 - 2nd Night Seder
The goal of TBS’s 2nd 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 - 2nd 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 2nd 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 7th 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 7th. 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 - 2nd day Rosh Hashanah at Mountain Lake Park.
The goal of our non-traditional, 2nd 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.
Volunteer of the Year List 2023-2024
Congregation Agudas Israel --- Sharon Kelson
Congregation Beth Hillel/WJCC --- Marilyn Nelson
Congregation Eitz Chaim & Sisterhood --- Bonnie Brunner, Vicky Morales & Ellen McNally
Jewish Federation --- Allen Nakagawa & Lorraine Wernow
Jewish Family Services --- John Mattera
Kol Yisrael --- Debbie Metzner
Monroe Hadassah --- Maria Rabinowitz
Monroe Temple of Liberal Judaism --- Robin Rosenberg & Michael Isseks
Monroe Temple Beth-El Sisterhood --- Leslye Joseph
Newburgh Jewish Community Center --- Alyson Mehr
Temple Beth Jacob --- Susan Notar
Temple Beth Jacob Sisterhood --- Estelle Brown
Temple Beth Shalom --- Gail Conklin & Catherine Greenblatt
Temple Beth Shalom Sisterhood --- Wendy Wayman
Temple Sinai --- Jay Karisak
Volunteer of the Year Bios
Congregation Agudas Israel: Newburgh
Sharon Kelson: Congregation Agudas Israel is pleased to nominate Sharon Kelson as our Volunteer of the Year. Sharon is a long time member of Congregation Agudas Israel. She has served in many leadership positions over the years including President, Treasurer, Ritual Committee, and Rabbi Search Committee Chair. Sharon also volunteers her time for local and national Jewish organizations. She is currently Vice President of Kol Yisrael and National Annual Planning & Revenue Share Chair for Hadassah.
Sharon is always one of the first people at CAI to step up and take on whatever needs to be done. You can find her cooking in our kitchen for a Friday night dinner, handing out aliyot during High Holiday services and actively directing Board discussions. She has been a major presence in our building and our congregation life.
Sharon - congratulations and thank you for all that you do for our CAI community!
Congregation Beth Hillel/Walden Jewish Community Center
Marilyn Nelson: Marilyn is a long time member who works behind the scenes to keep our shul and pantry supplied with all the items we need for every event we hold--for decades. Marilyn does not ask for thanks or attention, but quietly and humbly does the work that every shul needs to function. Marilyn is also a baker. Again, quietly and behind the scenes Marilyn comes to our kitchen and bakes for the holidays, especially Chanukah. Congregation Beth Hillel/ Walden Jewish Community Center is proud to honor Marilyn-- Eshet Hayil and Woman of Valor.
Congregation Eitz Chaim & Sisterhood: Monroe
Congregation Eitz Chaim and our Sisterhood nominate Bonnie Brunner, Vicky Morales, and Ellen McNally for our Volunteers of the Year. They have dedicated countless hours cleaning out and organizing our basement. Through their efforts, our basement now looks fantastic, many people and organizations were able to benefit from items we were no longer using, and whatever was unusable was responsibly recycled.
Bonnie Brunner: When Bonnie Brunner married David in January 1988, he was already a member of Eitz Chaim. She became a member as well, and has been volunteering with the synagogue ever since. From Education Committee Chairperson to Sisterhood Membership Co-Chair, to Trustee, to her most recent project of cleaning out/recycling the Eitz Chaim basement and the library, she is being honored today for her on going dedication to Eitz Chaim.
Vicky Morales: Vicky Morales joined Etz Chaim sisterhood through her friend Shelley Goldbaum. When she joined she became sisterhood secretary. Most recently she was involved in finding homes for books & gift shop items.
Etz Chaim has inspired her to look deeper into her journey with Judaism.
Ellen McNally: Ellen McNally has been a member of Eitz Chaim since 2017 and has served as a trustee since 2020. She joined the Eitz Chaim Sisterhood in 2013. As a Sisterhood member, she serves as co-chair of the membership committee. Over the years she has helped to organize Sisterhood dinners, as well as trips to Jewish Museums and exhibitions in the city. These past few months she has worked alongside Bonnie and Vicky to clear out the Eitz Chaim basement by recycling a room full of books, educational materials and gift shop items. She is being honored for the time she has put into this project and for her dedication to Eitz Chaim.
Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County
Allen Nakagawa: Allen Nakagawa helps prepare our mailings in the office whenever his wife tells him to! He is always ready with a smile, a more efficient way to get the job done and to show up when needed - including helping at our first annual Federation Funday - Allen, our 2nd Funday is on August 18th - we hope you're available that day too!
Lorraine Wernow: Lorraine Wernow finds time to squeeze us in to her busy volunteering schedule! She not only helps prepare our mailings, but is available to help with other office support including; filing, shredding, and bringing lunch when it's needed! She was honored by her synagogue as volunteer of the year last year, so it's our turn to honor her this year.
Both Allen and Lorraine regularly make time to help us, and without the work that they do for Federation we would not be able to get everything done. We are extremely grateful for their helping hands and positive attitudes!
Jewish Family Services
John Mattera: Jewish Family Service of Orange County is a not-for-profit organization that provides transportation, case management, shopping assistance, counseling, and various other services to seniors and individuals with disabilities in the Orange County community.
John Mattera is an active volunteer with Jewish Family Service of Orange County. He is a member of the Warwick Knights of Columbus, St. Stevens Parish Council, is a St. Stevens Usher, and is involved in the Rotary Club. He believes that volunteering has changed his life tremendously, saying that he is “Getting more out of it than he is giving”, when talking about how volunteering has impacted his life.
John has volunteered for over 900 events, equaling to a total of 1,459 volunteer hours with Jewish Family Service. John began his volunteer journey with JFS 5 years ago in May of 2019, and volunteers 3-5 days a week. He assists several seniors in our Orange County Community with transportation to medical appointments and also provides rides to our neighbors so they may attend daily mass at their local Church. John provided care to a blind man who needed help in completing tasks such as shopping or getting transportation for medical appointments.
John’s most inspirational and influential volunteer experience with JFS was when he was taking a man to dialysis every week for two years, and toward the end of his life they had grown so close that he had asked John to look after his wife and family after he has passed. The man also asked John to make sure that the Knights of Colombus’ were at his wake, and that the service would go as he planned. He is now best friends with the man’s wife and regularly checks in with her. John does not just bring neighbors to and from their appointments; he bonds with them and becomes their friend and confidant in a time of need.
John would like everyone to consider volunteering because of how much it has changed his life, believing that it added a quality to his life he didn’t know he was missing. He mentioned that when his kids left the house as they got older, he felt a void growing, and volunteering has helped fill that void. John stated, “Volunteering adds love to your life”.
We believe that John is an ideal candidate for the Volunteer of the Year award due to his continuous dedication to volunteering and helping our Orange County community.
Kol Yisrael: Newburgh
Debbie Metzner: Debbie Metzner was born and raised in Orange County. She is a lifelong member of Temple Beth Jacob where she currently serves as a board member and sits on the cemetery committee. An integral part of the Kol Yisrael community, Debbie regularly dedicates her time to events, fundraisers, and gatherings for all of our organizations. This year, Debbie was a core volunteer for a major Tikkun Olam project and multiple major fundraisers, among many other events and projects. She recently retired from the Orange County Department of Social Services after 30+ years of working with children and families in need. We are grateful to have her positive energy and helpful attitude during all of our events.
Monroe Hadassah
Maria Rabinowitz: It is with great honor and privilege that Monroe Hadassah nominates Maria Rabinowitz as our Volunteer of the Year. Maria became a Hadassah member and a Monroe Hadassah board member just 8 years ago. She started out as our hospitality chair, and then became at-large for a period to take care of her ailing husband Marty. Her Hadassah membership is Silver Chai Society, and she is a Monroe Hadassah Heroine donor. She recently became our social secretary and our Cards & Certificates chair, increasing sales exponentially. We look forward to her input at our monthly board meetings and her kosher recipes at our monthly membership meetings. She is especially appreciative of the support of her Hadassah “sisters” since Marty’s passing just over a year ago. In his memory, she often wears her Endless Beginnings necklace, which has the quote from Hadassah’s founder, Henrietta Szold, “There is no ending that is not a beginning."
Maria decided to convert to Judaism in 1978 after she met and married Marty Rabinowitz. Marty considered himself a “holiday Jew” then, but he encouraged her desire to have a kosher home, declaring, “a contented wife makes a happy life.” The two of them became staunch supporters of Jewish culture and religion. They lived for a time in Brooklyn NY, where she worked as an elementary school teacher, before moving to Monroe. Maria is proud to support Chabad of Orange County, Monroe Temple Beth El, and Eitz Chaim, as well as Jewish Federation.
Monroe Temple of Liberal Judaism
Robin Rosenberg: Monroe Temple of Liberal Judaism is proud to nominate Robin Rosenberg as our Volunteer of the Year. A former Sisterhood President and the current 1st Vice President of the Temple, Robin is a committed member of our Temple family. A little over our year ago Robin volunteered revamp the way our Religious School Committee worked by leading monthly parent discussions. Unbeknownst to Robin, or anyone, her role quickly changed as the Monroe Temple and Temple Beth Shalom in Florida began discussions of merging our two religious schools.
In addition to her other Board responsibilities, Robin worked tirelessly helping combine our two religious schools, not just through our Beit Sefer Committee and Executive Committee, but also by being present every Sunday to ensure that there was leadership continually present when parents from the different synagogues would attend. She made sure to not only comfort their souls with her presence, but also their bellies with the bagels she brought in every Sunday!
Robin is one of the primary reasons for Beit Sefer’s successful inaugural year. As there was no principal or director, she served as an important community and Temple voice during what could have been a difficult transitional period.
We would be remiss not to mention Robin’s favorite story regarding Beit Sefer, “Beit Sefer is Hebrew for House of the Book. We literally named our school, ‘school.’”
Michael Isseks: Monroe Temple of Liberal Judaism proudly nominates Michael Isseks as our Volunteer of the Year. A history and social studies teacher with over thirty years of experience, Michael has always been passionate about Israel, Israeli current events, and Israeli politics. Over the years, Michael has hosted a variety of discussion groups regarding all things Israel.
However, within 48 hours of the October 7th tragedy, Michael sprang into action to lead a discussion for the congregation and community, who were struggling to come to terms with what had just happened. This initial gathering turned out to be the first of an ongoing series of discussions dealing with the aftermath of October 7th.
Attendees quickly found these gatherings to be safe places where we could not only discuss the issues facing Israel but where we could openly share our feelings and emotions. Many attendees have commented that Michael’s groups have not only been eye-opening and educational but they have proven to be a therapeutic outlet as well.
Michael’s passion and love of Israel and Judaism are abundantly apparent as is his willingness to gather, educate and invigorate his community. Most importantly, Michael Isseks has worked tirelessly to inspire future generations of proud and informed Jews.
Monroe Temple Beth-El Sisterhood
Leslye Joseph: Leslye is extremely, honored and privileged to be nominated as “Volunteer of the Year”. Leslye is heading in to the third year as President of the Sisterhood for Monroe Temple. She loves what she does and is proud to lead such a fantastic group of women on a spiritual, social and meaningful journey if Jewish life.
Newburgh Jewish Community Center
Alyson Mehr: Alyson Mehr has a professional background in social work, social policy and youth education. She is currently the lead in the curriculum development & design of the most recent iteration of the Tot Shabbat Program at the Newburgh JCC. Her dedication to helping create and lead this program has made a significant impact on the JCC's community outreach in getting new people to the Center. She is a JCC board member and a current Temple Beth Jacob community member. She enjoys being a mom, working with young people in non-traditional learning environments, and furthering her own study of Judaism.
Temple Beth Jacob: Newburgh
Susan Notar: Temple Beth Jacob is very proud to nominate Susan Notar as our volunteer of the year. Susan is the president of our sisterhood and ensures that there is a robust slate of activities - from monthly Rosh Chodesh gatherings to
bi-monthly book clubs to seasonal favorites - Susan is the chief planner and the brain behind the operation ensuring that we are kept busy, entertained and thinking. She is very knowledgeable and able to lead us in a wide myriad of historical and current topics and ensures everyone is included. From trips to local theatre to holiday specific events, such as women's Seder and Hanukkah proneg, she ensures that the modern Jewish women's voice is heard. Susan works to ensure we have a platform to discuss, support and even commiserate when needed. She fosters an environment of friendship, and bonding. For the thousands of small things she attends to, which make events seamless and everyone feel included, we are proud to have her as our volunteer of the year.
Temple Beth Jacob Sisterhood: Newburgh
Estelle Brown: Estelle is one of the founding members of the TBJ sisterhood and currently serves as our Treasurer. In her duties she makes sure events are priced fairly and that all funds are disbursed and collected. She carries out these duties with fairness, professionalism and decorum. Estelle always has a smile on her face and always volunteers to help - whether it is planning, setting up or cleaning up. You don’t need to ask Estelle - she sees a need and immediately pitches in. She gets along with all and her presence and actions help make events run smoothly and successfully. Her spirit and sense of ruach is contagious. For these reasons, the TBJ sisterhood is very proud to nominate Estelle Brown as our volunteer of the year.
Temple Beth Shalom: Florida
Catherine Greenblatt and Gail Conklin: Catherine Greenblatt and Gail Conklin are Temple Beth Shalom’s Volunteers of the Year. They are both long-time members of TBS.
Catherine is just completing her term as Co-President and will become our Board Treasurer. Gail has been our Corresponding Secretary and pictorial documentarian for many years.
For the past few years, Catherine and Gail have teamed up to “cater” many of our in house events. We have given them the nickname of Green-Lin Caterers. From homemade lentil soup to homemade rugalach and more, whatever they prepare tastes better than store-bought. We thank them for their dedication to Temple Beth Shalom.
Temple Beth Shalom Sisterhood: Florida
Wendy Wayman: Our sisterhood at Temple Beth Shalom may be small in number, but we play an essential role in helping to make TBS a warm and welcoming community throughout the year. We have the help of our Jewish Federation Volunteer of the Year Wendy Wayman, and her devotion to sisterhood and Temple Beth Shalom. She is instrumental in organizing our successful fundraising event and being in the forefront of everything sisterhood. I personally would like to thank Wendy and the Sisterhood board for their continued support of me and all our events and fundraising.
Temple Sinai: Middletown
Jay Karisak: Jay Karasik has been a member of Temple Sinai for 10 years. Born and raised in Monticello, NY, and had a successful 30 year career at Mid- Hudson Psych. Jay has been very active member during his time here with Temple, he is an active participant on Sabbath mornings, bringing the torahs out, leading in the procession. When called upon he also helps out with misc. projects that are needed by our office staff, and lastly Jay is also an active member of our Men's Club. Jay embodies the culture of what it is to be an active member of Temple Sinai.