JFS Perspectives

We had quite an eventful week at Jewish Family Service and SHALOM Denver! While there are always exciting things happening in our agency on a daily basis, below are a few things we think you'll especially enjoy:

Yesterday, CBS4 Denver aired an inspirational story about the wonderful work SHALOM Denver does to help transition people from welfare to work. View this story and learn more about the program!  Thank you to Xstatic Public Relations for working with CBS4 and our staff to get this story on TV!


Heidi Pittaway, who is featured in the CBS4 story, with her daughters

Also yesterday, BBYO hosted a pre-screening of the popular movie The Hunger Games for Jewish youth in 6th-12th grade. To show that "hunger is not a game," the teens had to bring at a minimum of three canned food items to benefit the JFS Weinberg Food Pantry for admission. And in the spirit of the competition shown in the movie, BBYO had a contest to see which of their chapters would bring the most food. In total, the teens collected 2,200 pounds of food for our pantry! Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make an incredible impact on the lives of people who are in need.


Teens contribute food to their chapters' food bins at the theater

Earlier this week, we said goodbye to Amy Wood who left JFS after nearly 20 years of involvement with the agency. Amy actually started as a JFS board member in 1996 and held various positions including volunteer, intern, case manager, Family Safety Net program director, and finally government and community affairs director. We had a great party to toast (and roast) Amy and her love of flip charts, decision trees, and Venn Diagrams! Her energy, talent, and dedication will be missed!


Shelly Hines, Family Safety Net director, with Amy Wood


Amy's Tenure Timeline posted at the party in honor of her love of flip charts

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

You have probably seen the "What People Think I Do/What I Really Do" meme going around on Facebook and other social networks this month. We decided to jump on the bandwagon and make one about Jewish Family Service of Colorado! We hope you get a few laughs and learn a few things about what JFS really does and who we really serve in the community!

 -Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

You may have seen Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill employees with their mobile "Soup Kitchen" around town lately sampling their new soups. They are doing this to introduce their Soup for Soup Exchange happening this weekend.

For this promotion, you can bring a can of soup (or canned good) to a Denver area Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill October 21-23 to get a free cup of soup. Denver donations go to the Jewish Family Service Weinberg Food Pantry!

This morning, Garbanzo employees brought soup to the Weinberg Food Pantry for our clients to taste since we are a recipient of this food drive. The soup was a big hit and you can taste it this weekend when you bring in a can of soup to any Garbanzo location!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

Earlier this week, we said goodbye to Annie Reilly, care manager of the Hearts and Hands Homemaker Program, after 21 years. At her retirement party, we toasted and roasted her, shared tears of joy and sorrow, and celebrated her future endeavors over cake. A few past employees even came back to share their stories! JFS presented Annie with a photo book of memories and beautiful earrings as a token of our appreciation.



Thinking back on the wonderful party, we started to wonder what makes people want to work at JFS so long. We asked some of our staff members, who have worked here at least a decade, why they like working for JFS. Here are just a few of the many comments we received:

“When I started at JFS 33 years ago, I found a community and a place I belong. It was tremendous to find a place like this to not only work, but to know that I am doing something good every day.”

-Yana Vishnitsky, President & CEO

“I’ve served 14 years because we are not only a family service, but indeed a family, helping one another in our professional and personal lives.”

-Rabbi Eliot Baskin, Jewish Community Chaplain

“I’ve stayed with the agency 32 years because Jewish Family Service of Colorado has a heart and soul and dedication to quality service that cannot be found elsewhere. Our mission and values guide our operations and our operations are carried out professionally, yet passionately. Our leadership and staff are selflessly dedicated to helping people live healthy, happy and complete lives. Our philosophy of Tikkun Olam, to “repair the world,” is one in which I strongly believe. I am blessed and privileged to be able to come to work every day to an environment where all staff leave their personal “stuff” at the door and form a huge circle of love and support around each client and each other. JFS is the ultimate in our field and I am proud to be a part of it.”

-Arnie Kover, Director of Disability and Employment Services

“I’ve been here 11 years. Working at JFS is truly like having a second family. Not only are there the quirky and eccentric family members, but more important is the family support. We are all caretakers - not only of the community, but of each other. JFS is a magical place and I feel blessed every day to work with such amazing people to do such amazing things.”

-Dawn Richard, Development Director

While we haven't worked here for quite as long (but we're getting close!), here are a few of our favorite things about working at JFS: the staff and leaders of the organization, the office environment, getting all the Jewish holidays off, finding creative ways to tell the stories of the agency, the management trusts and believes in us and helps us grow our skills and interests, we always have fun at our jobs, and of course the fact that we help people in the community every day is fantastic!



And, JFS is hiring for several positions right now! If you want to join this amazing team of professionals and see what we're talking about first hand, check out our job openings!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

Appetizers on edible spoons, a signature Sangria, 200 people mingling in a hip art gallery...this was definitely not your grandmother’s annual meeting! Last week, we hosted Celebrate JFS at District 475 in the new Vallagio at Inverness area, which Peter Kudla, owner of the event space and emcee for the evening, said is the new midtown.

JFS volunteers, board members, staff, and supporters gathered to celebrate the agency’s successes from the past fiscal year, install eight new board members and new Board Chair Alan Mayer, and toast the 2011 Max Frankel Volunteer of the Year Daisy Flynn.



In the past four years, Daisy has volunteered two days per week in the Accounting department and has given about 1,650 hours to JFS! She is also a regular canning volunteer, and fills in at the Weinberg Food Pantry as needed. Congratulations to Daisy on this well-deserved honor!



We also said goodbye to our previous board chair. Yana Vishnitsky, president & CEO, presented Steve Kris with an over-sized gavel with the inscription: Steven D. Kris, Jewish Family Service of Colorado Board Chair 2009-2011. Heartfelt thanks for your leadership and dedication. May your gavel continue to be heard far and wide.



After a few brief words from Steve, he turned the meeting over to the new board chair, Alan Mayer, who welcomed our eight new board members: David Asarch, Carla Bartell, David Friedman, Will Gold, Blanca Lerman, Linda Appel Lipsius, Rob Naiman, and Kerry Shelanski. He also thanked outgoing board members Jeff Johnson, Annette Pluss, Dean Prina, M.D. Chet Schwartz, Debi Tepper, and Ted Wirecki, M.D. for their years of dedicated service to JFS.

View more photos from the evening...

Thank you everyone who attended this event! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. If you were there, please leave your comments - we'd love to know what you thought of the event!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

Last Sunday, the residents and staff of the JFS Group Home experienced a helicopter flight over downtown Denver! Regina, owner of the Rotors of the Rockies, generously donated helicopters and crew for a 30-minute flight over downtown Denver, City Park, the Denver Zoo, Cheeseman Park, INVESCO field, Coors field, Sloan’s Lake, and other well-known sites.

Here's what some of the residents had to say about the adventure!


Emily: “I can now die because I have flown in the clouds and I have conquered my fears.”


Lee: “I am flying like a bird, I hope that everyone is looking up so they can see me.” 


Laurie: “I want to thank them because I have always dreamed of flying in a helicopter. Now I can say I did it!”


Barbara: “I am going tell my brother and nephew about what I did. They are going to be so proud of me.”

Rotors of the Rockies regularly gives back to our community by donating free flight time for the handicapped and people in need in our community.  Andrew, one of the pilots, said, “I love being a pilot, but I love giving back to groups like yours even more.”


Mike Lobato, JFS Group Home manager, said, "They were very professional and caring when taking care of us from preflight to helping us in and out of the helicopters."


Thank you to Rotors of the Rockies for this wonderful opportunity!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department