David Harris
Why Love Cincinnati over Los Angeles or DC? A Dialogue on Volunteering with Amy Weiskopf & Sherri Symson
Even if you’ve previously lived and loved the urban East- or West-Coast life, volunteering in the Jewish community really helps you to love Cincinnati—as shown by this conversation between Amy Susskind Weiskopf and Sherri Symson, the two co-chairs of Connecting Council, one of the sub-committees of Planning and Allocations, the central mechanism through which community volunteers decide who the Federation should fund. They have become good friends through their committee work. —Danielle
AMY SUSSKIND WEISKOPF: I was living on the East Coast in the Washington DC area for 18 years, then I moved back to Cincinnati two and a half years ago, to raise a family close to my parents. I was not involved in the Jewish community in DC at all. I knew some people at Federation, and somehow I got a call saying: would you be interested in being on the [Caring] Council. I knew nothing about Federation. Even though my parents are very involved with it I just didn’t know what Federation does. I didn’t know many outside of Wyoming, the community I live in.
As a committee member, not only did I get to learn the amazing things that Federation does and all the agencies do, I was also able to meet people who were outside my synagogue and outside my community. Wonderful people like Sherri Symson, but also—people are pretty passionate about being part of Cincinnati and being part of the Jewish community here. It was a wonderful entry. Even though I grew up in Cincinnati, I left as a kid. Being an adult coming back here, the Planning and Allocations committee has really given me such a stronghold and got me excited about being back in Cincinnati.
SHERRI SYMSON: I’m from Los Angeles, and I came here to work for P&G, and I’m a convert [to Judaism], and so interestingly enough I was pretty involved in the Jewish community but not Federation. So I was on the board of the J, my kids went to preschool here at the J, then I had one that went to Rockwern, and we were involved in synagogue at Adath. But I didn’t really know much about Federation.
AMY: I’m at Wise, I would have never met Sherri if it were not for this council.
SHERRI: I was asked to be on the board of Federation and I was very honored and I was asked to do Planning & Allocations. I’m a businesswoman and I’ve since retired but I remember being kind of intimidated by the process. But the process is very well laid out and I enjoyed meeting all different types of people. I also enjoyed personally the strategic nature of the volunteer work. I used my mind, I was using Excel and Powerpoint again [smiling] and going into agencies and speaking to the heads of the agencies. Meeting with the people who are the recipients of the services definitely made me feel excited about what Federation does. My husband and I are very grateful for what Federation does for this city, because if it wasn’t for the Jewish community—my husband’s from Los Angeles too—we would not be here. We would have left. So we’ve seen the direct impact on our kids and in our lives. I also gain a lot of satisfaction personally, like by meeting people who become good friends.
AMY: This is my third year [on Council]. Three months after I moved here I got put on Connecting Council. This is my second year co-chairing it. But—Sherri touched on this too—I love meeting with all the different agencies that Federation supports, seeing how passionate all the leaders are at those agencies. You know, they don’t have big budgets; seeing all the stuff they are able to accomplish with their limited means yet still trying to improve was pretty eye-opening and impressive.
SHERRI: It’s also great that the agencies benefit because volunteers come through and they see all the great work that the agencies do. Prior to coming to this committee I thought of Federation as this huge organization so it’s like your money goes into some black hole and you don’t really know where it goes. That’s why we were giving to the individual places. Through our work actually, now Federation is where we put most of our donation to the Jewish community. We still give to the ones that we are personally affiliated with, but I don’t think that that story is unique. A lot of people learn by being on this committee. I’m on the JCC Board and it gets me excited that people who serve on the councils see just what goes on here in the building—and that’s true for all the agencies.
AMY: I completely agree.
SHERRI: If more people knew about Planning & Allocations [then we would get more volunteers]—I remember I had never even heard of it. I think anybody can do this. Council does, and Federation does, a really good job of making sure that everybody’s opinion is valued. It is a commitment. I think anybody could do it who is open and willing to learn and listen.
AMY: I was really impressed at how [the Federation] really wants to engage every single member of the Jewish community. From young children, making sure that even if they can’t afford to go to one of the schools that we can still get them funding, to young families, to other families, and also to retirees; making sure people have not just their basic needs, but also their emotional needs, their spiritual needs, met. Everything is a lot more complicated than I expected. However so much thought and consideration and compassion goes to make everyone feel that they give a unique contribution. Federation really does touch the whole community, not just the Jewish community, to make it a better place.
SHERRI: Like Amy was saying, it’s amazing how much strategic thought, and hours, and manpower, is mobilized. It’s amazing how much work goes into making this a vibrant Jewish community. I thought Cincinnati is a good Jewish community just because—but no no no—it’s very intentional and impressive. My husband and I always say: Cincinnati punches in way more than its fair share in terms of how big it is. It’s not a very big Jewish community. But this is an awesome place if you’re Jewish. We came from LA to Chicago to here, and I would say, “large,” “medium,” “small,” in terms of Jewish community, and this is an awesome place to be. We knew, coming here, it was an okay Jewish community, and it played in a little bit, but we didn’t have kids yet so we didn’t care as much, but it has been the thing that has kept us here. And it’s not by mistake. This community wouldn’t be what it is, without Planning & Allocations.
AMY: We moved from DC, where there are so many Jews, but never once did I ever get a call from the Federation, none of the temples tried to recruit us—nothing. PJ Library found us, so it’s not like we were hiding our Jewish roots. But coming here—you can’t escape your Jewish roots. It is welcoming. And that really helped me get settled here. It was a hard transition initially but I’m really happy to be here.
SHERRI: I’m happy here too.
AMY: [smiling] And we never would have become friends without Planning & Allocations.
