News & Impact

On May 12, two Holocaust survivors—Sonia Apfelbaum, 81, and David Diamond, 92—stood on the bimah at Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo in front of family and friends. Their dreams of becoming a Bat and Bar Mitzvah had been lifelong in the making, and three years in the making for JFCS and a small army of local Israeli volunteers. “Today is the happiest day in my life,” David said from the bimah. David and Sonia met through JFCS’ Café By the Bay program on the Peninsula, which brings survivors together weekly on Zoom to socialize, connect, and support one… Read More

“Many Israelis in the Bay Area are newly arrived, working in tech, economically stable, and raising young children. But what happens to those who are aging, facing hardship, or coping with illness? They can be left aside, with no family nearby to help.” —Oded Hermoni, JFCS Board of Directors and chair of the Bayit Ba’valley Israeli Committee JFCS’ Israeli Department Thrives, Thanks to Dedicated Volunteers Over the past ten years, the number of Israeli families moving to the Bay Area, particularly the South Peninsula, has been increasing. Recognizing the gap in culturally competent parenting and family support services in Hebrew,… Read More

See our Ukraine response resources > For 19 weeks, we all have followed the news of the war in Ukraine. Throughout this time of great pain, our community has come together by contributing humanitarian aid, advocating for refugees, and volunteering time, talent, and resources. Thank you for being part of this vital effort! Read on for updates on how JFCS is helping. Longtime JFCS Volunteer Helps to Welcome Ukrainian Refugees to Our Community When Marina Kantorova matches a JFCS volunteer with a Ukrainian refugee, she helps ensure they have the warm welcome and essential assistance that made all the difference… Read More

Thanks to generous donations and dedicated volunteers, JFCS Food Banks are able to serve thousands in our community every year. We are thrilled to welcome Jill Kulick, Marian Sosnick, and Sara Green as our new Peninsula Food Bank chairs! These three dedicated women devote their time to volunteering at the JFCS Food Bank and supporting our community in many ways. For Jill Kulick, the thought of hunger in her backyard was gut-wrenching. She knew she wanted to help however she could. During the pandemic, Jill had been donating to her synagogue’s food drive when her friend introduced her to JFCS’… Read More

Hannah*, who is 82 and lives alone in San Francisco, was eager to get the COVID-19 vaccine so that she could go out and have some pieces of her pre-pandemic life back. But Hannah doesn’t have wifi or a computer, and like many local seniors who lack access or familiarity with technology, she was unable to use the websites that California provided to book an appointment. Not only was her internet connection unstable, Hannah found the websites so confusing to use on her cell phone that she stopped searching altogether.   Fortunately for Hannah, a volunteer named Suzanne Mankoff is one… Read More

When COVID-19 hit the Bay Area, Israeli-American Jessica Hare knew she wanted to do something to help keep older adults safe. She immediately started looking for ways to volunteer and reached out to her friends at the Israeli American Council for ideas. They pointed her to JFCS, and after her first conversation with the volunteer coordinator, she knew JFCS was the right fit. Born in Washington, D.C., Jessica grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel. The decision to move back to the US came when her husband received an opportunity to temporarily relocate to the Bay Area for work. With two… Read More