At UJA NNJ, the beginning of every Annual Campaign is marked with a time-honored tradition, one that sets the tone for the year to come. Called Leadership Kick-Off, it’s the four-day period—this year September 17-20—during which UJA NNJ’s major donors, members of its Board of Trustees, and supporters from across the community gather to renew their commitments and explore the needs their gifts will meet. A contribution to UJA NNJ’s Annual Campaign is a gift to the Jewish community, locally, nationally, in Israel, and in 60 countries around the world.

Here in northern New Jersey, local agencies—day schools, cultural institutions, and social service agencies—provide a wide range of services to the community. Examples include cultural and educational programming, summer camps, parenting centers, fitness programs, and congregant meals for older adults.

Overseas, gifts made during Leadership Kick-Off mean that UJA NNJ will continue to meet its core commitment to the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Joint Distribution Committee. These agencies deliver services and programs throughout Israel. Example: in Sderot, the Jewish Agency has purchased backpacks for the schoolchildren of the city that for years has been bombarded by thousands of Qassam rockets. The JDC has done yeoman’s work providing social services that meet the needs of Ethiopian Jews who have immigrated to Israel and into the world of the 21st century.

Gifts made during Leadership Kick-Off also help fund Partnership 2000, the program that connects the northern Israeli city of Nahariya with northern New Jersey. Through Partnership 2000, teachers and students, doctors and other medical personnel, police, fire, and EMTs of both communities visit each other and share what they know to the benefit of both communities.

Closer to home, gifts made during Leadership Kick-Off mean that the UJA NNJ-sponsored Hillel of Northern New Jersey can continue to bolster Jewish identity for hundreds of students at Bergen Community College, the Fairleigh Dickinson University Metropolitan Campus in Teaneck, Ramapo College of New Jersey, and William Paterson University.

A gift to Leadership Kick-Off supports innovative programs like iLEAD, the Institute for Teen Training, which develops leadership and Israel advocacy skills in tomorrow’s leaders. ILEAD was convened by a coalition under UJA NNJ’s Jewish Educational Services. After spending ten days in Israel, 15 of these future leaders are returning today, ready to share what they’ve learned with their peers, and become strong advocates for Israel.

To develop strategies for growing congregations of the 21st century, UJA NNJ’s Synagogue Leadership Initiative looks far into the future. Gifts made during Leadership Kick-Off help SLI continue, as Judy Beck, who heads up SLI says, "working to open multiple windows of opportunity into the Jewish community, so that in 2050 there will be a strong, vibrant community."

Over the years, thousands of men, women, and children have learned what it feels like to perform a mitzvah, a good deed, while participating in UJA NNJ’s annual Mitzvah Day. Gifts made during Leadership Kick-Off mean that UJA NNJ’s Jewish Community Relations Council, through its Tikkun Olam Initiatives, can continue to mobilize the community for Mitzvah Day. Now in its 10th year, Mitzvah Day will be bigger and better than ever. For more information on this year's Mitzvah Day, — on November 4 — please call Sharon Rifkind at 201-488-6800, ext 229 or email sharonr@ujannj.org.

To be part of Leadership Kick-Off, please call Robert Miller, 201-488-6800, ext. 248, or email robertm@ujannj.org

 You can also sign up online at www.ujannj.org/leadershipkickoff