JCA welcomes 25th organisation to the extended family
JCA has announced the addition of a new supported organisation, the first in ten years.
Ian Sandler
“It is a proud day for all of us as we welcome Stand Up to our family of organisations. By broadening the scope of our engagement, connection to the global world and giving, we are ensuring that as Jewish people we take care of others as well as our local Jewish community,” said Ian Sandler, President, JCA.
Leading the way in the social justice arena, Stand Up is a welcome addition to the JCA family. Approved by the Board of Governors and JCA’s Status Committee, Co-Chair Mel Schwartz commented that Stand Up’s work engages a young, energetic, and passionate sector of our community in meaningful work that resonates with their Jewish identity and broader community beliefs. “We believe that this group should have a home within the JCA family. JCA looks forward to supporting Stand Up so that they can focus on running programs and achieving their goals in NSW.”
Stand Up was established in 1994 in response to the Rwandan genocide. The organisation embraces the philosophy of Tikkun Olam and provides a collective Jewish response to broader communal and global humanitarian issues. It has been operating in NSW for over eight years.
Chair of Stand Up Dean Levitan
Courtney Winter-Peters, CEO, Stand Up said: “We are extremely grateful to the JCA Status Committee and Board of Governors for the opportunity to join this exciting, dynamic organisation. We’ve had a NSW base for a number of years and becoming part of the JCA family will enable us to reach even more people in the NSW Jewish community. I can’t wait to share our exciting plans in the near future”,
Stand Up’s programs include Step Up (for 12 to 13-year-olds), School Programming (13 to 17-year-olds), and the Stand Up Fellowship (18+). On the ground, some of their work has included:
- During the 2021 bushfires – coordinating an effort that raised almost $1M to be disbursed to organisations ‘on the ground’ such as Vinnies NSW, Island Care South Australia and the Rural Fire service.
- During Covid – engaging (in NSW alone) more than 200 B’nei Mitzvot students in 2020 and 2021.
- Through their Derech Eretz Indigenous program leading 90 participants from NSW (out of 220 total volunteers nationally).
As a newly supported JCA organisation, they will continue to enhance social justice awareness and inter-community collaboration with an aligned vision for a thriving and inclusive Jewish community.
“This year, a membership subcommittee of the Status Committee will be looking at ways that JCA can support innovative and grassroots organisations in our community in a more structured manner. This will be a really exciting project that will see the committee bringing together people with a long history of communal involvement and young people with fresh ideas about future directions for the JCA”, concluded Mel Schwartz.
