Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles Announces 2006 Israel Grants Totaling over $1 Million.

$250,000 Designated for Israel in Crisis Fund

LOS ANGELES -- The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation) today announced it has awarded grants to Israel-based initiatives totaling $1 million. Of the total, it has designated $750,000, in collaboration with other funding partners, to support programs in Israel such as early education, economic development and geriatric care. The Foundation has also awarded $250,000 to the Israel in Crisis Fund.

The announcement follows significant changes to The Foundation's Israel Grants to enhance the funding impact and fulfill the wishes of Ellen and Werner Lange, the now-deceased couple who created a multi-million dollar endowment fund at The Foundation in 2004 to support Jewish communities in Los Angeles and Israel. The Israel Grants now offer more money for multi-year projects and allow for collaborations with other funding entities. Under the new guidelines, programs are eligible for grants up to $250,000 for programs that span up to three years.

"Last July's war in Lebanon reaffirms the importance of The Foundation's ongoing financial contributions to strengthen programs in Israel. The joint efforts with our partner organizations - which had been in the planning well before the war began - will support even more substantial efforts in Israel and effect positive, long-term change," said Marvin I. Schotland, The Foundation's president and chief executive officer. "We are proud to participate in a venture that aims to provide viable solutions to critical social and economic problems in Israel."

One of the recipients, the Israel in Crisis Fund, was established in mid-summer by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles (The Federation) in collaboration with United Jewish Communities and all Jewish Federations around the country. The original goal of the initiative was to raise $10 million locally to help send thousands of children in Northern Israel to summer camps in safer areas during the recent Middle East conflict and to resettle the disabled and homebound elderly, as well as to provide some semblance of normalcy to the displaced families.

"With the support of the Jewish Community Foundation, The Federation was able to immediately respond to the crisis created by the attacks on Israeli civilians from Lebanon and Gaza," said John Fishel, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. "The grant allowed the orderly evacuation of children and senior adults to safe havens during missile attacks. It also assured that those actually under fire could receive critical human services, many offered in bomb shelters, during a difficult period impacting millions of Israelis. With the cease fire, The Foundation's grant is helping to provide assistance to individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress."

Another of the organizations receiving a grant - $300,000 over three years - is the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee for its "Parents and Children Together" (PACT) program in Beit Shemesh. PACT provides much-needed educational and social services to pre-school-age children of Ethiopian Israeli families in an effort to help the youngsters gain academic parity with their Israeli peers by the first grade. With The Federation as a funding partner, the grant money will be directed to support training for teachers.

The Foundation also partnered with the Milken Institute of Santa Monica and awarded $270,000 to the Institute's Israel Center. The grant money will be distributed over two years for a three-part program that aims to foster comprehensive knowledge of creative financing methods for capital works projects among individuals within the university community, as well as in business, finance and government.

"The recent conflict in the Middle East only underscores the importance of Israel's economic growth and financial independence," said Michael Klowden, president and CEO of the Milken Institute. "This landmark grant from the Jewish Community Foundation not only serves as an endorsement of the critical work we have done in Israel, but will enable us to expand our programs and support of the country's continued economic development."

Another economic development organization receiving Foundation grants, $150,000 over two years, is the American Friends of Koret Israel Economic Development Funds (KIEDF). The group addresses the challenges faced by small businesses in Israel, primarily accessing credit on reasonable terms, by guaranteeing loans provided by partner banks. The Foundation gift will offer technical assistance to prospective borrowers of $15,000 to $100,000 applying to KIEDF's Small Business Loan Program.

In addition, Foundation funds will augment KIEDF's Micro Finance Initiative, which makes loans of $500 to $5,000 to low-income Israelis seeking to open small, home-based businesses. Participants will receive training in business basics, such as how to develop business plans and loan applications.

It is projected that Foundation funds for KIEDF will significantly improve the likelihood of a successful business start-up for some 150 Israelis.

"The support of the Foundation enables us to continue to demonstrate that small-business lending in Israel is a small risk and that microfinance lending is the most effective way to improve the plight of the impoverished," said Carl Kaplan, managing director of KIEDF.

With the Rochlin Foundation as a funding partner, The Foundation distributed $30,000 to the American Friends of Sarah Herzog Hospital for its geriatric caregiver training program. Over a five-month period, the program will train unemployed female members of the Israel Ethiopian community to help them secure employment in the health services industry.

"It is very commendable that the Jewish Community Foundation and the Rochlin Foundation decided to fund Herzog Hospital's program," said Steve Schwartz, international director of resource development at Herzog. "This one gift meets three important needs: to provide professional training in an important skill to Ethiopian women, to provide them with respectable employment after they complete the course, and to meet the shortage of nurses' aides at Herzog Hospital."

About The Foundation

Established in 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation is the largest manager of charitable assets and the leader in planned giving solutions for Jewish philanthropists in Greater Los Angeles. The Foundation currently manages assets of $603 million and, according to the National Foundation Center, ranks among the ten largest Los Angeles foundations (based on assets). In 2005, The Foundation and its 1,200-plus donors distributed $57 million in grants to more than 1,300 organizations with programs that span the range of philanthropic giving.