Create your Jewish legacy 

Chances are you already give generously to the Pittsburgh Jewish charitable organizations of your choice. But have you considered including those organizations in your will, or as a beneficiary of your retirement fund, so you can continue to make a difference for generations to come? 

Community Day School is participating in the four-year Life & Legacy incentive program that is a collaboration between the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh. The goal is to preserve vibrant Jewish life for future generations by ensuring the long-term financial health of Jewish community organizations in Pittsburgh.

There are many different ways to leave your own legacy. And anyone can do this. You don't have to be wealthy—just committed to CDS and the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Whether you already have a will or are just getting started, it's always the right time to think about how you want to be remembered and what impact you can make.

CDS Life and Legacy donors

Anonymous (6) Laura Arnold  Dan and Ronna Askin Moshe Baran Cantor Laura Berman Joshua Breslau Ari and May Chester Nicole Evoy Jay L. Fingeret Margie Fischman Josh and Shiri Friedman Dan Gelman Eva Gelman Miriam Ginsberg (z"l) Adrienne and Evan Indianer Jenny and Chad Jones  Stuart Kaplan Ken Levin  Michael and Caryl Levin Gina Favish Levine Noah and Aviva Lubowsky Fara and Andy Marcus David and Carole Maretsky Tzippy Mazer Jack and Bernice Meyers Marcie Mitre

Simon and Deborah Moltz Shirley Moritz Avi Baran Munro Boaz Munro Isaac Munro Paul Munro  Barry R. Nathan Linda S. and Fred Newman Robert O’Doherty Barbara Parker Bruce and Jane Rollman Edward Russakoff Andrew Sahud Hannah Sahud Derek Smith  Irene Smith Richard Smith (z"l) Rabbi Stephen and Lisa Steindel Laura Stone Marc and Lisa Tannenbaum Barbara Trachtenberg Nancy and Gary Tuckfelt Howard and Nicole Valinsky Mark and Bari Weinberger  Joseph and Phyllis Weinkle Lou and Amy Weiss Nancy Weitzman Bob and Roelie Whitehill

 

 

"This has been an exceptionally challenging and difficult year for education in America.  Millions of students from grade school to university level have been unable to join teachers and classmates  for an in-person learning experience.  We are proud that our three Friedman grandchildren in Squirrel Hill have been the beneficiaries of the devotion,  commitment, and expertise of  the CDS faculty, administration, and staff to allow them to enjoy daily  in-house learning and socialization. The return to school has gone almost without mishap since late August. The children have taken to their classroom pods with great excitement. They are glad to be back with friends and classmates and are clearly benefiting from the social and academic bonanza of a school united in purpose and in place. We are honored to have the opportunity to include Community Day School in our wills with a bequest that can help to ensure that this wonderful school will be available for our great-grandchildren and others." 

- Rabbi Stephen and Lisa Steindel

"As our children have grown, it is clear how their time at CDS helped them see the inequities in the world and engage in activities to address them.  We know that we would not have sent our children to CDS if we were not convinced they would receive a great education.  We have learned that the cost of providing the education we demand is substantial. In response, we give generously to CDS through gifts to the annual and endowment campaigns. It seemed only fitting to include CDS in our legacy planning, too.  We hope that our gift will inspire others to give and make sure that the school can continue to attract and inspire the Jewish families of Pittsburgh."

- Ken Levin and Marcie Mitre

"Both my husband and I committed to being Life and Legacy donors.  We did this about two years ago, and it is recently that I feel even more committed to that decision.  When we made the commitment, our daughter was still a student at CDS, and the school’s dedication to her education and development up to that point had moved me to make the donation.  Now, she is a sophomore in high school.  She recently told me that nothing in high school (the academic track, AP classes and honors, etc.) is as hard as CDS was.  CDS was not grueling, do not misunderstand. It  really prepared her for being a student in any environment.  We are delighted that CDS gave her the foundation of asking questions and working hard. This year (COVID and virtual school) are among the hardest academic challenges she has ever encountered or ever will. But, she has self-motivation and great study skills and a love of learning—all of which CDS helped to make happen. 

People get requests from their colleges to donate when they graduate, and if you go to a private high school, maybe you think to donate to that because those are key years.  But I think that people do not regularly give to their elementary school. It is up to parents and others to give to elementary schools instead of the alumni, just by virtue of how this all works.  As pivotal as they are, people forget their elementary education, or take it for granted. Or by the time they are in a position to be donors themselves, those years are too far in the past. The elementary school years are the foundation and essential—I am honored to be giving back to CDS. They have given so much to our family. My dedication to giving to CDS has only grown since I made the commitment to do so. 

CDS accepts every person for who they are and where they are, and as our consciousness about human rights issues increases in society, I am more aware of how CDS is instilling these habits. Community Day School is not only academically rigorous and preparing my children for life from a traditional educational standpoint, but they are teaching and exposing my children to values that I believe in and exploring and questioning important issues of morality and inclusion and kindness.  hey are helping my children to be prepared for life on all fronts.  Every kid in the world should be lucky enough to have a CDS education. It is my duty to make sure that future generations of kids in Pittsburgh can have this experience—that is why I made the Life and Legacy commitment." 

- Dr. Hannah Sahud

"Our family has two generations who have benefited from the love and values of the CDS experience. Our hope is to be a small part in keeping the ahava alive for the next generation and thereafter. "

- Dan and Eva Gelman