In a true testament to the power of community, Politz Day School of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, celebrated its first-ever online fundraising campaign on May 16-17, raising a record-breaking $465,000 in just 24 hours. With a theme of “Reach Every Child,” the campaign encouraged current Politz families, grandparents, alumni, faculty, board members and the wider Jewish community to come together in a communal show of support for southern New Jersey’s only modern orthodox Jewish day school. The generous donors who rose to meet this challenge have ensured Politz’s ability to continue providing a student-centered, inquiry-based, Torah-true education so that every child who enters its doors will learn and grow to meet his or her potential. Yael Sokolic, a recent transplant from North Jersey and a current Politz parent, said, “I feel so blessed to be part of a close-knit community where every single person’s efforts can make a real difference.”
Partnering with the online crowdfunding platform Charidy, Politz’s initial goal was to raise $400,000 in one day to support the school’s annual operating expenses, including security, technology implementation and tuition assistance. Every contribution made during the campaign had an even greater impact: all gifts were quadrupled, thanks to the generosity of three groups of matching donors. After surpassing the initial goal, the campaign launched a “bonus round,” which raised an additional $65,000 to support the school’s special needs initiatives, in just under seven hours. Head of School Rabbi Avraham Glustein remarked, “the real take-away from this experience is the incredible power of our Jewish community’s achdut in what was likely the most effective show of teamwork the Cherry Hill community has seen in a long time.” Feedback from the community was equally positive: “I am truly blown away by Politz’s tremendous effort and even more tremendous result. I don’t know if any other organization in this community has been this successful in recent years,” said Alison Platt-Tarnopol, a former Politz board member.
Politz took the opportunity to turn its campaign operations room (the school library) into a school-wide celebration, where students, teachers, parents, volunteers and lay leaders could lend their support and celebrate the school’s fiscal and educational accomplishments. Visitors to the operations room included Jennifer Weiss, CEO, Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey; Glenn Fuhrman and Vicki Zell, president and past president, Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey; Les Cohen, executive director, Katz JCC; Amy Milgrim, executive director, Jewish Community Foundation; David Snyder, executive director, Jewish Community Relations Council and Cherry Hill Councilwoman Carolyn Jacobs. These community lay leaders lent their time and expertise to help create excitement among their constituents for Politz’s ambitious endeavor. In a beautiful act of tzedaka, modelled both at home and in school, second grader Avichai Roller emptied the contents of his piggy bank ($18 in total) to give to his beloved school. Inspired by Avichai, several community members and teachers matched his gift, above and beyond their initial pledges. Seventh grader Isabella Schwartz, who donated $400 of her bat mitzvah money to the campaign, said, “Politz means family and friends to me. I’ve been here since I was four years old, and every day, I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
The momentum of the “Reach Every Child” campaign will continue with Politz’s first-ever golf tournament at Woodcrest Country Club on Tuesday, June 27. The school will mark its 50th anniversary with a year-long celebration during the year 2017-2018 school year.
