One of the largest annual fundraising efforts in the nation, the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago Annual Campaign, closed its 2015 Campaign today at $83,122,764, assuring ongoing support for a vast network of essential human services, both local and global. The total was $1,025,536 higher than the successful 2014 Campaign.

The Annual Campaign is the largest element of an effort that last year mobilized $203,718,220 to help more than 70 vital social service agencies and programs feed, clothe, house and otherwise care for 300,000 Chicagoans of all faiths, and provide humanitarian assistance to 2 million Jews in Israel and around the world.

Those services include providing more than 543,000 meals and other food assistance locally to those in need; $3.3 million in emergency financial assistance to Chicago-area households; food, medicine, home care and other necessities for 132,463 Jewish seniors and 22,580 impoverished children in the former Soviet Union, including embattled Ukraine; and services to assist the integration of more than 26,000 immigrants into Israeli society.

The Campaign also helps strengthen the Jewish community. Some 23,951 children built stronger Jewish identities through supported formal and informal educational experiences; nearly three out of four local Jewish day school students received tuition assistance; 3,798 college students participated in Jewish life on Illinois campuses through Hillel and other programs; tens of thousands attended Israel Solidarity Day, trade dinners, the Young Leadership Division Big Event and other communal events; and Israel advocacy efforts resulted in strong legislation combatting boycott efforts.

In addition to the Annual Campaign, JUF raises funds through bequests, the Centennial Campaign, corporate partnerships, donations to emergency relief efforts, donor advised funds, support foundations and other sources. As a major funder of human services addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations in Illinois, the Federation also receives significant grants – totaling more than $16.7 million in 2015 – from government and foundations, and is a beneficiary of the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

“Chicago’s Jewish community is amazing,” said 2015 Annual Campaign Chair Sara Crown Star. “The generosity and commitment to helping those in need is unmatched. The impact those dollars have on 300,000 lives in Chicago and 2 million lives worldwide is truly transformative. Every single day our community changes lives for the better. Our community should be really proud.”

“It comes down to trust,” said Board Chairman Bill Silverstein. “Because our community trusts JUF to effectively and efficiently serve those in need, strengthen Jewish life, and care for our extended family here and half way around the world, we are able to stay true to our mission. The responsibility is awesome, and it hasn’t gotten any easier in the last 115 years. But because of that trust, JUF continues to be where our community turns to heal the world.”

“The success of the Annual Campaign is all about people,” said President Steven B. Nasatir. “Tens of thousands of contributors. Thousands of volunteers. And a very committed staff. And, at the forefront, those who lead. We owe huge thanks to Sara Crown Star for her energy and commitment, End-of-Year Chairs David Goldenberg and Hilary Greenberg, Women’s Division Campaign Chair Linda Schottenstein Fisher, Young Leadership Division Campaign Chair Amy Kirsch, Campaign Senior VP Rachel Sternberg and all the others who made this possible.”

Numbers tell the story

In 2015, in addition to the examples already mentioned, Chicago’s Jewish community made it possible for JUF-supported agencies and programs to help 38,125 people get free or highly subsidized mental or physical healthcare; 3,206 seniors to stay in their homes rather than having to move to institutionalized care; 1,192 impoverished Jews to receive essential prescription medication; 1,475 children with disabilities to get intensive therapeutic services and education; and 581 workers to find jobs.

Countless Jewish experiences were sparked as 1,410 went to Jewish summer camp with scholarships; 6,942 families shared the joy of free Jewish books and music from JUF’s PJ Library; 687 got tuition aid that helped them start their child’s Jewish early childhood education; and 978 families with 1,430 young children explored and experienced Jewish life at JUF Young Families programs. 6,361 young adults attended programs focused on engaging the next generation, and 3,999 Jews of all ages provided hands-on assistance to those in need and other efforts through JUF’s TOV Volunteer Network.

Innovation also got a big boost as 19 visionary initiatives that meet local Jewish needs and engage community members Jewishly received grants from JUF’s Breakthrough Fund.

Compared to 2008, the beginning of the Great Recession, JUF scholarships and subsidies for Jewish early childhood programming grew by 330 percent, emergency assistance dollars provided by JUF agencies grew by approximately 250 percent, and the number of people receiving free or subsidized health care more than doubled. In just the past two years, the number of Chicago-area Holocaust survivors receiving services is up 89 percent.

Internationally, JUF’s overseas programs helped 26,428 Jews from across the globe begin new lives of freedom in Israel, where new immigrants received assistance with housing, Hebrew, employment and socialization; some 23,500 disadvantaged Israeli students received scholastic and emotional support; and 7,255 young Jews from Russia and other Eastern European countries built stronger Jewish identities through a Jewish camping experience.

“In the simplest terms, the agencies we support and the programs we provide in Chicago, Israel and around the world are the conduit between those who need help and those who can provide it,” Nasatir said. “The fuel for all of those efforts comes from the tens of thousands who support the Annual Campaign.”