You’re Invited to JFCS 2026 Annual Meeting June 23

We’re excited to announce that the 2026 JFCS Annual Meeting is rapidly approaching! We’ll hold the meeting on June 23 between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the JFCS office (2821 Klempner Way, 40205). This yearly event is our opportunity to reflect and celebrate our successes over the past fiscal year, as well as discuss our plans for the upcoming year and beyond. 

We’re particularly excited for our Annual Meeting each year as it’s also a time to present three awards during the meeting: the JFCS Volunteer of the Year Award, the JFCS Community Collaborator Award, and the Mary Gunther Program Innovation Award. 

Our JFCS Volunteer of the Year Award highlights a volunteer who has worked with JFCS for at least six months and who exemplifies the vision and mission of our organization. This year’s award will go to Madeline Abramson, a food pantry volunteer who has also volunteered with our telephone reassurance program for older adults and who has a history of taking part in our Community Advisory Council and our MOSAIC Committee. Madeline has been volunteering with us for several years, and we are overjoyed to receive her help in such a diverse array of ways. 

The JFCS Community Collaborator Award celebrates an organization that has worked with JFCS over the past year to serve the community in a holistic, trauma-informed way. This year’s award will be presented to Neighborhood House, a community center in Louisville’s West End which aims to provide support to Louisvillians of all ages. Neighborhood House works with JFCS’ Klein Older Adult Services program to offer exercise and recreational opportunities for seniors. The organization also collaborates with our Career Services program to give career assistance to adolescents. We are pleased to be able to provide help to Louisvillians young and old, and we are grateful to Neighborhood House for making these opportunities available! 

Finally, the Mary Gunther Program Innovation Award, supported by the Bob Tiell and Dave Dobson program innovation endowment fund at JFCS, honors a particularly innovative program each year. The award was named after Mary Gunther, a JFCS Career Services secretary from 1959 until her retirement in 1992 (prior to her death in 1993). This year’s award goes to Project EM, run by our wonderful Career Counselor Cindy Key. Project EM is a program designed in collaboration with nineteen other Jewish nonprofits across the country. It is focused on assistance for job seekers through holistic methods. This entails interactive workshops as well as career exploration and job search preparation services – opportunities offered virtually to allow job seekers throughout the country to benefit from our services. Cindy has led our Project EM services since their introduction in 2022, and we’ll always be grateful for her dedication!