The Harold Grinspoon Foundation is excited to announce that we have awarded four PJ Library Alliance Spark Engagement Grants to expand and deepen engagement opportunities for families raising Jewish children across North America.
These grants were awarded to new partners of PJ Library with new or expanded initiatives. The selected grants emphasize engaging families raising young Jewish children who are not regularly participating in Jewish or PJ Library programming.
The selected initiatives will work closely with PJ Library as well as connect together as a cohort. These grants are helping PJ library grow and diversify its work by piloting models that can be adapted across the PJ Library network, which currently includes more than 200 partners.
These grants are part of a five-year strategy to extend Jewish engagement in North America through the support of the PJ Library Alliance. Our partners in the Alliance are the William Davidson Foundation; the Jim Joseph Foundation; the William and Audrey Farber Philanthropic Fund; Diane & Guilford Glazer/Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles; the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation; Walter, Arnee, Sarah and Aaron Winshall; the Susser Family Trust; and two anonymous partners.
We look forward to working with these partners and seeing all of their exciting initiatives come to life.
Abundance Farm, Northampton, MA
Shabbat Shabloom
Abundance Farm is a non-profit, educational farm formed through a unique collaboration between local Jewish organizations and a community food bank. The Farm supports local food security and offers an urban oasis where people of all ages, faiths, and backgrounds are drawn for nourishment, community, and celebration. Shabbat Shabloom is a weekly summer program that will offer welcoming, playful, farm-based experiences for kids aged 0-5, and their caregivers. In addition to song and movement, families will be able to tour the farm, pick their own Shabbat bouquets, sample what's growing, and help harvest food to bring to the food bank. The farm will extend the community experiences in the fall through a satellite sukkah program in partnership with a local CSA program.
IKAR, Los Angeles, CA
Bite-Sized Shabbat
Recognized nationally for its success in engaging young and disaffected Jews, IKAR is a positive and proactive response to the declining trend in affiliation in the Jewish community. IKAR believes that a rich and powerful Shabbat experience should be accessible for everyone. This grant enables IKAR to double the frequency of Shabbat programming for families with young children, and offer dynamic programming elements, such as drumming, communal dinners, and pre-bedtime celebrations. The frequency of this program offers participants the opportunity to build strong social connections and foster Jewish community.
Mayyim Hayyim, Newton, MA
Water, Water Everywhere
Mayyim Hayyim reclaims and reinvents immersion in the mikveh, one of Judaism’s most ancient rituals, for contemporary spiritual use. With this grant, Mayyim Hayyim will bring its mission to families in various Boston-area neighborhoods through Water, Water Everywhere. This two-part program for 5-9 year-olds and their families, will explore motifs of the mikveh such as the role of water in ritual and marking milestones, through activities such as drama, crafts, and science exploration. Mayyim Hayyim will also create scavenger hunts and specialized education program to encourage young families to visit and further explore the mikveh.
Urban Adamah, Berkeley, CA
Family Farm Days
Urban Adamah is an urban farm, inspired by Jewish learning and community, where people of all backgrounds, can explore, taste, smell, and touch. This grant will support the creation and expansion of two programs. Family Farm Days will provide families an ongoing opportunity to be involved in a Jewish farm experience across the seasons, and will work to create community among participating families. Farm Days will include work/play projects such as planting, harvesting, and animal care as well as games, stories, and songs for young farmers. The Early Childhood Family Series will provide families raising children aged 3 to 5 years old, activities that connect children to the food they eat, their bodies, Jewish traditions and values, and the cycles of nature.
The Harold Grinspoon Foundation is also excited to announce a new recipient of the
PJ Library Alliance New York Metro Region Engagement Grants:
Jewish Museum, New York, NY
Picture This
The Jewish Museum is a distinctive hub for art and Jewish culture for people of all backgrounds. Picture This is a monthly series that will invite families to the Jewish Museum to see original works of art and connect them to stories from the PJ Library collection by making one-of-a-kind creations themselves. Picture This will lead into the museum’s children’s concert series. This unique morning series will enable families to discover art and Jewish culture with a multi-faceted array of experiences.
For more information about PJ Library Alliance Engagement grants, email us
here.
July 5, 2016