The Kranzberg Family Foundation, a supporting organization of Jewish Federation of St. Louis, has awarded $50,000 in grants to nine Jewish programs for children, teens and young adults for 2013. This is the sixth year the family has gifted grants to next gen programs. To date, the Foundation has donated nearly $300,000 to projects that benefit the St. Louis Jewish community. The foundation is administered by the Jewish Community Foundation of St. Louis. 

Ken Kranzberg, Jewish Federation board member, set up the Foundation. His daughter, Mary Ann Srenco is President.  

The 2013 Kranzberg grant recipients are:

• Nishmah: The Kranzberg Foundation is providing funding to support the Banot Buddies program, which engages girls 8 to 12 years old and teenage girls in programming that encompasses Jewish values and fosters leadership building, mentoring and relationship building.

Jewish Student Union: The Kranzberg Foundation is offering JSU funding to support an ongoing program that engages teens in exploring Jewish values and ethics through contemporary media, including television shows, music, movies, etc. This connection will then be used to inspire the teens to become more involved in Jewish infrastructure, such as youth groups.

PJ Library: PJ Library, a program for children ages 6 months through 7 years, helps deepen Jewish family relationships and connections to the Jewish community by giving children free Jewish-themed books and CDs. PJ Libraryhas received funding from the Kranzberg Foundation for four years.

NextDor: Funding will help this post-denominational, non-institutional, urban Jewish community space for young adults in St. Louis continue to be a welcoming open space to connect.

Maryville University: Kranzberg Foundation funds will help the university’s Jewish Initiative work to engage Maryville with the overall St. Louis Jewish community, explore ways to engage students in Jewish activities and encourage the creation of bonds among Jewish students, Jewish faculty and staff.

St. Louis Jewish Light: The teen initiative, “Ohr Chadash: Teen News by Teen Jews,” is a monthly section in the Jewish Light produced by a teen staff. The teen staff learns about journalism and writes stories, takes photos, designs pages and posts content online. The section is published in the second edition of each month during the school year.

Judaism Alive—Jewish Rock Radio:  The JRR Rocks St. Louis initiative is being launched to help local Jewish non-profit organizations focused on next gen engagement develop and implement marketing and advertising campaigns.

Jewish Parents as Teachers: Kranzberg funds will help the model at Temple Israel enhance the child’s success in school and provide a strong base for the Jewish home.

Torah and Turf: Run by St. Louis Kollel, this unique program combines scriptural study and flag football. Teams participate in Torah study first, then take to the field. Kranzberg funds will help the growing program continue engaging a group of young people who might not participate in this study otherwise.