Current Community Needs

Women of the Kollel aims to engage Jewish women with their heritage and with each other. Kollel will hold periodical general events like classes in Jewish thought and challah baking, but also timely events before holidays, like classes about forgiveness in September and hamantaschen bakes in February. In addition, Kollel will provide two larger programs: the JWRP trip to Israel in July and the Women’s Shabbat Experience in January.

This school year, 225 children enrolled in Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, representing 161 families. 117 students still need some sort of financial subsidy. Any size contribution would be appreciated.

HBHA has joined forces with a leadership group from University Academy, as well as the Metropolitan Organization for Racial and Economic Equity (MORE2), to identify and tackle social justice issues in the Greater Kansas City area. These projects, from healthcare to early childhood education to positive police and community relationships, help students gain insight, understanding and empathy for those who lack the basic needs, rights or skills that most of us take for granted. Goals of the program include providing HBHA students an unparalleled educational opportunity to effect positive change in the community and to create bridges between the Jewish community and other communities in Kansas City. The larger Jewish community will benefit from having these emerging leaders in their midst. Click the headline to support this program with your fund

Each summer, the Jewish Community Center Camp, J Camp, arranges to bring Israeli young adults as Shlichim (Emissaries) to Kansas City. The Shlichim work as day camp staff, teaching Israeli cultural activities and sharing their love of Israel. J Camp staff work with the Jewish Community Center Association (JCCA) and The Jewish Agency for Israel to do the recruitment, background checks and arrangements to bring the Shlichim to the United States. J Camp staff recruit area Jewish families to host the Shlichim, and share the American culture and Kansas City highlights. The cost for bringing two Shlichim to J Camp for the summer is $4000 per person, for a total of $8,000. J Camp is looking for an individual, foundation or organization that would be willing to sponsor the Shlichim so that they can share their knowledge, experiences, and love of Israel with the J Campers. Click the headline to support this program with your fund

Millennials (22 years old to early 30s) now comprise a significant percentage of the Jewish population in Kansas City, yet only a small number are engaged in Jewish life. While there is a lot of attention on this demographic, relatively few resources are dedicated to meeting needs and connecting this generation to the Jewish community in the way they want to be engaged. JFS believes this is critical to the community because current young adults are needed to be the next generation of Jewish leaders, donors, and parents. Funding will be used to: identify and engage at least 250 Jewish millennials in the Kansas City Jewish community, who are previously uninvolved and under engaged with our agencies and congregations, and who are new to Kansas City; create a central information hub that gives millennials easy access to programs and events throughout the community; curate and develop content that will help make Judaism and Jewish culture more relevant to millennials; and work with other Jewish agencies to develop appropriate programing to effectively engage Jewish millennials in Jewish life and the Jewish community.

The Foundation for Jewish Camp website says it best: "Jewish camp weaves Jewish values, culture, and traditions into the fabric of camp, helping campers connect to their own identity and the larger Jewish community." When the Kansas City Jewish orphanage of the early 1900’s closed, Rabbi Gershon Hadas convinced the leadership to dedicate the remaining funds to send children to Jewish summer camps. For over fifty years, the Rabbi Gershon Hadas Guardian Society for Jewish Children has provided much needed financial assistance to children who wish to have this special experience. Each year they receive thousands of dollars in requests and can only provide between $250 and $500 scholarships for each child. Every dollar raised goes to support children.

European Leadership Mission (ELM): KU Hillel’s ELM is a high-level winter break trip to Sofia, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania for 20 Jewish student leaders. The trip costs $1,000 which covers a round trip flight and all ground costs while in Europe. Participants are responsible for their domestic flight(s) and spending money.
- $500 will help subsidize trip costs for 1 KU Hillel student leader
- $1,000 will send one student on ELM who may otherwise not be able to attend
- $3,000 will allow KU Hillel to offer numerous scholarships for various students in need

Hillel International has begun partnering large Hillels with smaller Jewish communities nearby and has requested that KU Hillel begin serving the 60 Jewish students at K-State. Until now, two Jewish K-State professors had hosted holiday dinners and offered sporadic programming. Funding would support the development of robust new programming and help launch the incubator phase of the collaboration.

KU Hillel inspires students to convene their Jewish friends for Shabbat dinners in their dorms, homes, apartments and Greek houses. The purpose of the Shabbat Around KU program is to teach students how to host a Shabbat dinner for their friends so they will continue to do so in their adult lives post graduation.
- $100 funds 1 Shabbat dinner for 10 students
- $500 funds 5 Shabbat dinners
- $2,500 funds 1 MEGA Shabbat Around KU Event in which more than 20 students will host dinners on one night across KU’s campus

CJEEP aims to expose the children and teens of the Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation to the many Jewish cultural learning experiences and activities beyond religious school and family Shabbats in Lawrence, KS. Opportunities will be provided for youth to travel to Kansas City and Topeka to attend Jewish-themed events. There will also be new teen youth group activities coordinated with KU Hillel.

The mission of MeltonKC Powered by HBHA is to connect parents, professionals, retirees and other adults to pluralistic adult Jewish learning. This aligns with the mission of HBHA to prepare students for fulfilling lives as Jews, and as honorable, contributing citizens. The text-based nature of Melton courses is highly unique, encouraging a unity among Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews that is essential to our future. Melton students make better congregants, better board members and better leaders. Accessible classes are offered in a variety of locations, including private homes, business offices near the Plaza, at synagogues, and at HBHA.

Student Lounge Re-vamp: Throughout the day, students come by Hillel to grab a snack, meet a friend, or do some homework. Recently Mizzou Hillel has had numerous requests from students for a mini upgrade. Specific requests include a full-size refrigerator to stash lunches/dinners (since their kitchen is kosher, the fridge there is off limits for this), a toaster, and a keurig. This re-vamp will make the students' home away from home even more "homey"!
Building bridges through student partnerships: Inviting someone to join you to break bread and share a meal is a tradition in Judaism as well as many other cultures. Each month, Jewish Cooking Club meets and explores food and culture from Jewish communities around the world. Recently the students organizing partnered with the Asian American Association (AAA) at Mizzou for a joint Cooking Club and learning session. Jewish students shared about kashrut and Jewish community history in Asia, and Asian students shared about the history of sushi in America. Then everyone cooked and ate (kosher) sushi and stir-fry together. Students are really excited about this new direction for Cooking Club and are talking about other groups they can partner with and invite to join them. Mizzou Hillel is looking for additional funding to help cover the increased cost of the program going forward in this new model.
Shabbat: Every week Mizzou Hillel holds a Shabbat service followed by dinner. Students lead services, help make challah, and plan and cook the dinner in their kosher kitchen with Hillel staff.

Jewish Student Union runs Jewish culture clubs at 5 Kansas City public high schools to reach Jewish teens, including those who are unaffiliated and under engaged, and strengthen their Jewish identity and connection to Israel. Teens who grow up in unaffiliated families, or who have not been Jewishly engaged since their Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, participate in JSU because the clubs take place in their schools, removing barriers to entry. The JSU clubs provide informal Jewish education, positive Jewish experiences, a forum to ask questions about Judaism, a chance to meet other Jewish teens, and an opportunity to identify as Jewish.

There is now a Jewish Studies major at the University of Kansas. Starting spring semester of 2016, KU students may apply for study-abroad programs at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Haifa University. The Jewish Studies program asks for financial aid to provide scholarships to undergraduate students proposing to study in Israel.