Moments to remember
Jackson Steel, one of JVS’ four Employees of the Year, will remember the group’s annual Strictly Business lunch, held on April 11, for two reasons. First, of course, he was honored (publicly — in front of 1,100 guests!) for the progress he’s made in his work at the Exploratorium. And second, he’s a huge Giants fan and he got to sit next to and shmooze with Larry Baer, president of the Giants and a past co-chair of the event. And, as a bonus, Baer gave him tickets to a future game, reports Jane Steiner, Jackson’s mom. Steel, who has Down syndrome, began working with JVS when he was 14, taking skill-building courses as part of his school day. Over the next five years, JVS coached him through his first jobs and last year, placed him as an explainer at the Exploratorium. Dana Corvin and Jean Strunsky co-chaired the Employee of the Year awards committee and other awardees included Rhea Spate, University of California, San Francisco; Charles Jackson, African Advocacy Network; and Robert Milles, Haight Ashbury Food Program.
Report from FedFest
Advice from former Secretary of State George Shultz … don’t spend time on the probable, instead focus on the possible. That’s what he did during his term, Schultz told FedFest 100 attendees when he received the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s Centennial award for his efforts in freeing Soviet Jews. In brief remarks at the all-day event April 10, which celebrated the federation’s 100th anniversary, Schultz also noted that he was encouraged to learn last summer that Israelis and Palestinians are working together to make life more livable for Palestinians in the West Bank.
News from Egypt
San Francisco native Samuel Vengrinovich, now living in Israel, has put together a video documentary of his experiences crossing the Israel-Sinai border and traveling to Cairo to witness the Egyptian revolution. “I witnessed their desire to guard and protect their revolution from being hijacked and the sensitivity Egyptians displayed about being positively viewed by the international community,” he writes. To see the video, email [email protected].
And speaking of Egypt, Heather Erez of San Francisco Hillel writes that thanks to funding from the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the first-ever interfaith seder was held at San Francisco State University. SFSU President Robert Corrigan attended the event, which was led by Rabbi Henry Shreibman.
Short shorts
South Peninsula Hebrew Day School will honor community supporters Nancy and Yasha Gofman, along with eight SPHDS teachers with 18 to 31 years of service each, at a special event May 15. “We’re reaching out to alumni and recreating memories from 31 years ago to the present time,” said event coordinator Helene Zimmerman. Contact her with your memories at [email protected] or (650) 851-3969, and sign up for the event at www.sphds.org … A $12 million gift from Joan and Sanford Weill of Sonoma County to Sonoma State University will support the completion of the school’s Green Music Center and two additional performance venues. It is the largest single cash gift in the university’s history … Thanks to a $30 million gift from Bernard and Barbro Osher, a five-floor, 48,000-square-foot building houses the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and UCSF Department of General and Internal Medicine. “The facility enables all of the center’s programs and 80 scientists, faculty and staff to be housed under one roof,” according to the university.
This columnist can be reached at [email protected].