The Jewish Community Foundation of St. Louis will be honored with the 2011 Non-Profit Recognition Award on Thursday, June 23, at the St. Louis Planned Giving Council’s annual Legacy Awards event. It will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Palladium St. Louis, 1400 Park Avenue in Saint Louis. The award is given annually to a non-profit organization for its excellence in planned giving programs. The JCF is being singled out for its “Create a Jewish Legacy” (CJL) effort.

The Jewish Community Foundation CJL program educates, trains and assists organizations in securing bequests and other planned gifts from their constituents, working in partnership with Jewish Federation’s local agencies and day schools. To date, Create a Jewish Legacy has secured more than $6.5 million in outright and deferred bequests from 36 donors. “The gifts benefit numerous organizations throughout our community and will provide resources that ensure a vibrant Jewish community for years to come, said Wendy Rosenblum, associate director of Development, Endowments and Planned Giving.  

Harvey Wallace, Jewish Federation vice president of Financial and Human Resource Development, concurs. “We are thrilled with the recognition of our efforts to promote planned giving throughout the Jewish community and steward endowments and other planned gifts on behalf of donors and our beneficiary agencies. This is a wonderful acknowledgement that we are moving in the right direction, and we hope our efforts will encourage donors to continue making legacy gifts to support our community’s agencies and institutions.”

The Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation, the St. Louis Planned Giving Council and Leave a Legacy St. Louis sponsor the event. Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased through the St. Louis Planned Giving Council website at www.slpgc.org.