Jewish Family Service of San Diego held its first Joan Jacobs Signature Brunch recently at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine. More than 400 guests listened to Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actress Julianna Margulies — best known for her roles in “ER” and “The Good Wife” — speak about her career, upbringing, resilience and work with the Holocaust Educator School Partnership, an education program managed by the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.

The brunch celebrated the life of the late Joan Jacobs, community leader, philanthropist and lifelong supporter of Jewish Family Service.

Elaine Galinson was also honored with the inaugural Pauline Foster Leadership in Action Award. The event was chaired by Elissa Davis, Daryl Gelender and Sally Shaps.

A recent spotlight shows how Giving Tuesday donations are making an impact in San Diego, highlighting the vital role Jewish Family Service plays in providing food, housing support, and compassionate care to our neighbors.

San Diego Unified is expanding its support for students and families experiencing homelessness through a new partnership with Jewish Family Service of San Diego to operate a Safe Parking site. This collaboration strengthens the district’s comprehensive efforts to remove barriers, provide stability, and help every student thrive.

Members of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue Sisterhood volunteered at Jewish Family Service (JFS) San Diego on Wednesday, November 12, helping make challah for the Lieber’s Corner Market at the Balboa Avenue campus. Before beginning the challah braiding, Dates gave an overview of JFS’s mission and values. JFS partners with people of all backgrounds to build stable, dignified lives, creating a stronger and healthier community where everyone can thrive. Its guiding values include Justice (Tzedek), Hope (Tikvah), Community (Kehillah), Repairing the World (Tikkun Olam), Acts of Loving Kindness (Gemilut Chasadim), and Healing (R’fuah). Dates asked the volunteers if they knew the difference between hunger and food insecurity. “Hunger,” she explained, “is the physical discomfort caused by lack of food — that rumbling feeling in your stomach. Food insecurity is the lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life — a shortage of resources.”

For the past several weeks, Jewish Family Service has been ramping up its food distribution services to meet a growing need in the community since the government shutdown started last month. Tom Stewart with Jewish Family Service said since they started the Emergency Response Food Distribution Drive five weeks ago, they’ve seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in San Diegans using their food distribution resources.

Elizabeth volunteers at JFS’s Safe Parking Program.

Over the weekend, the federal government temporarily shut off funding for its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, leaving more than 42 million Americans uncertain about how they’ll be able to feed their families in the coming weeks.

When our community was impacted by the government shutdown, JFS immediately stepped up to ensure San Diegans were connected to critical support. Hear from Dana Toppel, JFS CEO, how we’ve been meeting the moment with compassion and action.

As millions of people prepare to lose their federal food assistance program benefits like SNAP — CalFresh in California — nonprofit organizations are already noticing the impact of the government shutdown on the community. 

“Today is our fourth week of our emergency response to this government shutdown,” Tom Stewart, the vice president of strategic integration at Jewish Family Service (JFS), told NBC 7. “We’re preparing this afternoon to be able to serve up to 200 households.” 

Stewart, along with about a half-dozen volunteers, was preparing boxes of fresh produce and canned goods for community members to come pick up at a drive-through distribution event. He added that they will host these Wednesday evening events at their Balboa Avenue location in Kearny Mesa until the shutdown ends. 

Jewish Family Service has distributed food weekly since shutdown started and is seeing many new faces. The non-profit expects even more with snap benefits delayed. San Diego is home to the highest military population in California, plus an additional 46,000 civilian federal workers, making the region particularly vulnerable to the effects of a federal shutdown. The organization has committed to providing community food distributions every Wednesday for as long as the shutdown continues, with each visitor receiving 40 pounds of food.

As the federal government shutdown continues, local organizations are stepping up to help military families and federal employees struggling to make ends meet.

Every Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m., volunteers at the Jewish Family Service of San Diego distribute free food to families in need through a drive-thru pickup program. Since the start of the shutdown, organizers say demand has surged. “So anyone who is impacted could be federal employees, military families, contractors, civilian workers — just anybody affected by this,” said Tom Stewart of Jewish Family Service. Stewart said the organization has seen a 42% increase in families using the drive-thru service in the past week.

Barring a quick end to the shutdown, many federal workers could miss a paycheck Friday, and November food benefits could be delayed to hundreds of thousands in San Diego County. Jewish Family Service has drive-thru food distributions for federal employees, contractors and their families impacted by the shutdown on Wednesdays from 4:00 to 6:00pm at its campus at 8804 Balboa Ave. in Kearny Mesa.

Federal workers are quietly seeking help—and bracing for deeper cuts as the shutdown enters its third week. San Diego County is home to thousands of people who have been furloughed or are working without pay during a budget impasse entering a third week with no end in sight. “I think we can handle one more pay period,” said the woman, who held the hand of her 3-year-old daughter as she walked to her car with a donated bag of groceries. “If it goes more than another paycheck, that’s when it’s going to hurt my family.” Their needs will strain an already struggling non-profit sector contending with budget cuts and inflation, while adding pressure to both parties in Washington to reach a resolution.

“We’ve been working with local nonprofits to make sure that they are increasing their service delivery, to be able to accommodate the needs of the federal workforce. So I’ve worked with the food bank, Feeding San Diego, Jewish Family Services, others, to make sure that we are, you know, getting the information out to the federal workforce of how they can get the support that they need, and then making sure that our local nonprofit partners are able to provide those supports.”

Jewish Family Service of San Diego has found another way to help those impacted by the United States federal government shutdown.

The nonprofit that helps the entire community, along with The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, is hosting a drive-thru food distribution on Oct. 15 at Jewish Family Service of San Diego, Joan & Irwin Jacobs Campus in Kearny Mesa for families impacted by the shutdown.

Nearly 200 families of federal workers and those in the military will each receive about 40 pounds of food, including fresh produce, non-perishable and shelf-stable pantry food.

This will not be a one-and-done as the distributions will continue to be available every Wednesday at 8804 Balboa Ave., for as long as the shutdown continues. Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFSSD) actually started providing food to furloughed government workers and their families on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

In response, JFS developed a first-of-its-kind program to provide community members with an immediate, compassionate response and connections to resources in the wake of a hate incident or crime. The Jewish Community Emergency Response Team (JCERT) deploys specially trained staff and volunteers to assist people with compassionate triage, providing immediate psychological support and grounding, along with connection with short- and long-term recovery resources.

San Diego is home to about 47,000 federal employees and more than 100,000 military personnel, reports NBC 7’s Jeanette Quezada. Jewish Family Service is now offering free groceries to federal employees and contractors who may be at risk of missing their next paycheck.

San Diego ya siente los efectos del cierre del Gobierno Federal, con miles de familias enfrentando la incertidumbre de no recibir sueldos. Organizaciones locales, como Jewish Family Service, han activado programas de ayuda alimentaria para apoyar a los empleados federales y sus familias.

San Diego nonprofits are preparing for the long haul as the government shutdown enters its sixth day. Jewish Family Service is now offering free groceries to federal employees and contractors who may be at risk of missing their next paycheck.
“We recognize this is a new set of folks that need assistance, so we’re here to support,” said Tom Stewart, VP of Strategic Integration from Jewish Family Service. Working in coalition with The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, Jewish Family Service is providing 40-pound bags filled with pantry staples and fresh produce. The bags will be available every Wednesday until the shutdown ends.

Dr. Bob Rubenstein and Marie Raftery have funded the Jewish Family Service David Rubenstein Memorial Scholarship since 2008, awarding financial aid to over 160 Jewish students in San Diego County to support their educational and vocational goals. “For us, it is very satisfying to be able to do that. It’s an honor. I’m grateful for having the opportunity to do it.” said Marie Raftery.

Jewish Family Service hosted a meaningful intergenerational challah bake that brought together Holocaust survivors and teens, led by 8th-grader Milana. Through shared stories and the hands-on tradition of braiding challah for Rosh Hashanah, participants built connections, honored memory, and celebrated the strength and continuity of the Jewish community.

The County is partnering with the San Diego Foundation on a new guaranteed income program for high-risk pregnant women as part of a new initiative called Born Well. The County has been involved with other Guaranteed Income Programs in recent years. The Family Income for Empowerment Program started in April 2023 in partnership with Jewish Family Service. Another County cash payment program was Recovery Action Fund for Tomorrow or RAFT, in partnership with Jewish Family Service. Guaranteed income programs provide direct, unconditional cash that gives families the freedom to spend money on their most immediate needs as they define them, such as food, childcare, medical needs or rent.

According to JFS’s new leadership duo⎯CEO Dana Toppel and Board Chair Theresa Dupuis⎯the needs in our community are growing more urgent and more complex. Together, they are stepping forward determined to meet the moment with compassion, purpose and resolve.

New CEO Dana Toppel and new board chair Theresa Dupuis talk about how Jewish Family Service is meeting today’s community needs in a sit down with Fox News. 

Dana Toppel, JFS CEO, and Theresa Dupuis, JFS Board Chair, sit down with KUSI to discuss JFS’s role in building a community where everyone has safe and stable housing, enough food to eat, and a supportive community around them.