Community Corner

Westchester Jewish Community Services Seeks Help Creating A New Slogan

Concept: Help promote the agency and its upcoming gala.

In conjunction with its upcoming Gala, Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) has launched Friends with Words, a challenge to help create a slogan to promote the agency. 

A human services agency, WJCS has been helping people of all ages cope with emotional, cognitive, environmental, physical, social and educational challenges since 1943.

“The theme of our Gala is ‘More Than Words Can Describe,’” explains WJCS Development Director Barbara Gordon. “We are asking people to use their words to convey the impact WJCS has on people in Westchester through more than 80 programs that serve nearly 20,000 individuals each year.”

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To take part in the Friends with Words Challenge go to www.wjcs.com/challenge. The deadline to enter is April 17.  The person who comes up with the winning phrase will receive Dinner for Two at Moderne Barn in Armonk. The winner will be announced at the WJCS Gala on April 24. The winner does no have to be present. 

For more information, contact Gordon at bgordon@wjcs.com or 761-0600 X219.

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The WJCS gala will honor Victor Hershaft and Laura Kleinhandler.

VICTOR HERSHAFT
When his company was sold in 2007, Victor retired from a successful and fulfilling business career as President and Chief Operating Officer of the global label maker, Paxar Corporation and jumped whole-heartedly into philanthropic endeavors.  Joining the WJCS Board of Directors in 2003, he is former Treasurer and current Vice President, bringing empathy, wisdom and experience to his various roles. 

Among his WJCS accomplishments, Victor championed the needs of seniors in lower Westchester working with the former Rose Y, the Mount Vernon community and UJA-Federation to transition programs for older adults to WJCS.  So impressed with the program that he enrolled his own mom, he continues to be involved in its future. As the recession hit Westchester residents, Victor helped develop Connect-to-Care services that provided vital job search support and counseling. He has also appealed to legislators and supporters to sustain WJCS services in communities throughout the County.   

Victor and his wife of 46 years, Yvette, live in Armonk and enjoy their children, Andrew, Jennifer and Michael and granddaughters, Carley and Alexa.  He is past President of Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont & Emanuel in Scarsdale and participates on UJA-Federation’s Management Assistance Program, ACE Committee and Westchester Business & Professional Board.  Even in his vacation communities, Victor assumed leadership roles as member of the International Board and area Board Chair of the Double H Hole in the Wall Camp inLake Luzerne,NY, and is currently President of the Lake George Association. 

For his insight, generosity of time and spirit and concern for the well-being of people in need, WJCS is privileged to honor Victor Hershaft.

LAURA KLEINHANDLER
A true leader and innovator, Laura Kleinhandler has enhanced the board of WJCS since 2004.  Currently chairing the Program Services Committee, which reviews the needs of some 80 WJCS programs, Laura initially became involved as a volunteer with the day treatment program for adults recovering from mental illness. Participating with her daughters at the annual holiday celebration for people with disabilities, collecting gifts and school supplies for needy youngsters and helping to stock Kid’s Kloset with clothes for at-risk children, she sets an outstanding example of caring and commitment for her family and peers daily.      

Laura was recognized by UJA-Federation in 2010 with the prestigious Martha K. Selig Young Leadership Award.  Actively engaged on the executive committee of the Westchester Women’s Philanthropy group, she has helped organize a Middle School Task Force to address contemporary challenges facing families of young teens. The daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Laura regularly solicits at Super Sunday phone-a-thons, has joined many UJA-Federation international missions and belongs to the Nedivot Women’s Impact Philanthropy Group inWestchester.           

Laura and David Kleinhandler live in Rye Brook and belong to Temple Sholom in Greenwich with daughters Rachel, Sophie and Lily. Together, they have created a UJA-Federation endowment to sustain their meaningful vision of Jewish life into the future. 

WJCS is delighted to honor Laura Kleinhandler for her intense devotion to our agency and her significant impact upon the lives of people in need in Westchester, the metropolitan area and around the world.


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