The Rabbi Robert P. Jacobs Jewish Fund for Human Needs (JFHN) is now accepting applications for volunteers to serve on its allocation committee for a three-year term beginning this spring.

The fund is co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association with support from the Lubin-Green Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. The fund awards grants to small and medium-sized nonprofit direct service organizations in the St. Louis region that focus on providing health care for the uninsured, food for the hungry, housing for the homeless, assistance to refugees and emergency shelter for victims of abuse.  

The program has two funding cycles a year. In each cycle, allocation committee members discuss possible applicants, review grant applications that are received, participate in site visits to first-time applicants, and help decide the awarding of grants. Most site visits and allocation committee meetings are held on weekdays in the mornings or late afternoons. 

Committee members get first-hand insight into many social service organizations in our region. For most of these organizations, the fund is the first support they have received from the Jewish community. 

More information on the Jewish Fund for Human Needs, including a short video, is at their website,www.jfhn.org. To find out more about applying for a position on the JFHN Allocation Committee and to request an application, please contact Steve Sorkin at 314-442-3873 or [email protected]. The application deadline is Feb. 1.