News & Impact

When Ashley Ashkinos was 12 years old, she longed to attend a Jewish entrepreneurial camp. Unfortunately, the tuition was not in her family’s budget, so Ashley decided to raise funds on her own. She sold lemonade, created a crowdfunding campaign, and quickly raised $2,500 within a few weeks. Realizing that there may be other kids struggling to afford the camp too, Ashley continued her campaign and raised an additional $10,000, which she donated to award scholarships to other kids with financial needs. Today, Ashley’s heart and fortitude are being recognized—this summer, she was selected as one of JFCS’ two 2021… Read More

A roadmap for parents by Dr. Madeline Levine, psychologist, bestselling author, and Expert Panelist at JFCS’ Center for Children and Youth. As they pose for their first day of school photos, children and parents have more concerns than ever about returning to classrooms this fall. Parents are worrying—will my child survive socially? Are they behind academically after learning from home? Is my child’s back-to-school anxiety cause for alarm? We sat down with parenting expert Dr. Madeline Levine to discuss families’ rising concerns about heading back to school. Based on her deep experience, and on insights from her recent book… Read More

Doug Winthrop has served on JFCS’ Board of Directors since 2007 and was recently elected as President for 2021 – 2022. A magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College and the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was an editor of its law review, Doug clerked for former United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens before moving his litigation practice to San Francisco to join Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk and Rabkin, which later combined with Arnold & Porter LLP. We recently sat down with Doug to talk about his time with JFCS and what motivates him… Read More

In an unprecedented public-private partnership, the JFCS Holocaust Center will partner with the State of California to respond to rising acts of antisemitism and hate. By combining private donations with public money, the JFCS Holocaust Center will lead an important initiative to expand Holocaust and genocide education across our state. Over recent months, JFCS has been working closely with key policymakers and community partners to advocate for critical action to combat hate in California. This month, a historic budget deal was signed—thanks to the leadership of the Jewish Legislative Caucus, led by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and State Senator Scott Wiener;… Read More

“I’m excited to be an ambassador to younger professionals,” says Robert (Robby) Kaufman, one of the newly elected and youngest members of the JFCS Board of Directors. “There are so many opportunities to participate as volunteers and so many ways to access help.” Robby, the vice president of investor relations at FTV Capital in San Francisco, became involved with JFCS when researching his family’s history. Inspired by a summer 2017 trip to Poland, Robby began to piece together the experiences of his maternal grandparents, both Holocaust survivors, who had passed away. His research led him to the JFCS Holocaust Center… Read More

Eight years ago, Betsy Zeger’s mother, Maxene, had just gotten out of the hospital when Betsy’s father died unexpectedly. Betsy found herself completely stretched thin, trying to care for Maxene while grieving the loss of her father. Fortunately, a dear friend noticed Betsy’s struggle and connected her with JFCS’ Seniors At Home division. Betsy says calling JFCS was a turning point. “My mother’s quality of life greatly improved, as did mine, knowing that she was in such safe and capable hands,” Betsy recalls. “Her needs have varied over the years, but the one thing that’s consistent is the way Seniors… Read More