JCA Spotlight

duda • March 24, 2025

Your Gift, Our Community: How the JCA Allocations Make an Impact

When you give to the JCA’s Annual Campaign, you’re not just supporting the incredible programs and services we offer—you’re investing in a stronger, more connected Jewish community. One-quarter of every dollar raised is distributed by our Allocations Committee, a dedicated group that reflects the diversity and values of our community.


Of these allocated funds, 75% stays local, supporting partners like the Maine Jewish Film Festival, the Southern Maine Jewish Cemetery Association, religious schools across Cumberland, York, and Sagadahoc Counties, and more. The remaining 25% goes overseas to non-governmental organizations providing essential social services, including Hand in Hand Schools and World ORT.

One powerful example of your impact is the Maine Jewish Museum’s Delet program, which introduces Maine middle and high school students of all backgrounds to the richness of Jewish history, culture, and traditions. Thanks to your support, Delet is opening doors to greater understanding.

What is the purpose of the Delet Program?

"Delet" is the Hebrew word for "door," and the mission of the Delet Program is to share our experiences and open a door to a greater understanding of Jews and Judaism among diverse Maine middle and high school students. We work one-on-one with teachers at schools throughout the state to custom-design lesson plans that dovetail with their specific teaching goals. We usually take over teachers' classrooms for the day or multiple days in a row, allowing them to be part of the learning experience themselves, if they so choose — as a long-time educator with a Master's degree in teaching, I aim to give our overburdened teachers less work, not more. Sometimes our lessons complement units on the Holocaust, sometimes they highlight Maine Jewish history, and sometimes they focus on Jewish literature and culture. This month, we are teaching a class on Jewish contributions to the Civil Rights movement for the first time. Whatever teachers teach, we are happy to connect to Jewishness in cross-culturally meaningful ways.


We also provide transportation for schools to visit the Maine Jewish Museum for general tours and special programs. We give students an introduction to the synagogue, allowing them to see and touch a Torah, explaining the basic elements of a Jewish service, and outlining the similarities and differences between the Jewish religion and other world religions. We walk them through our historic collections and contemporary art exhibitions and give them an overview of Jewish contributions to Maine's history and vibrant arts community. Our emphasis is on Jewish life and light even when discussing antisemitism — as we always remind students and teachers, Jews are forced to contend with antisemitism, but antisemitism does not define us.


Our Museum Vision calls on us to connect people to the Maine Jewish experience and use our Jewish core as a springboard for broader outreach, and the Delet Program is critical to this mandate. With antisemitism continuing to skyrocket and our society increasingly divided, bridge-building is more important than ever... particularly with our youth, in whose hands our future lies.


How does the JCA’s gift impact the Delet Program, and what is the significance of the Jewish community backing this program through the local allocation process?

The JCA's generous funding allows us to bring the Maine Jewish Museum to schools and schools to the Maine Jewish Museum, as well as to host performances and workshops for students of all backgrounds. Many of the schools we work with are unable to afford transportation for field trips, and being able to cover that cost for them is game-changing. In fact, students are often not only visiting the Maine Jewish Museum for the first time, but they are also visiting Portland for the first time! My educational mantra is "you can't teach them 'til you reach them," and the JCA has gifted us with the opportunity to reach hundreds of young Mainers who have had little or no contact with Jews.


Knowing the Jewish community is putting its dollars and faith in the Delet Program through the local allocations process makes me feel buoyed and supported even as Jews are under siege nationally and in Maine. There are so many nefarious forces beyond my control, but thanks to the JCA, I am able to focus on impactful work on the ground that I can control, and that is everything to me.


With one gift, you change lives. You build a more resilient, vibrant Jewish community. Join us in strengthening our future by supporting the JCA Annual Campaign today.

National Diaper Need Awareness Week 2026

September 15, 2026
The Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine Marks National Diaper Need Awareness Week, Celebrating Community Support for Maine Families As Maine recognizes National Diaper Need Awareness Week, September 14–20, Michael Klahr Jewish Family Services (KJFS) at the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine (JCA) is highlighting the ongoing challenge of diaper need and the extraordinary network of volunteers, donors, funders, and community partners who make the KJFS Diaper Bank possible. Across the country, one in two families with young children struggles to afford enough diapers to keep their children clean, dry, and healthy. Diapers are a basic necessity, but they are also an economic issue for families: many childcare and early education programs require parents to provide an adequate supply of diapers, meaning diaper need can create another barrier to parents’ ability to work. Here in Maine, the KJFS Diaper Bank works to ensure that families throughout the state have access to this essential resource. As an essential component of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, KJFS approaches this work in the spirit of Jewish values—the belief that caring for our neighbors and helping people meet their most basic needs is a responsibility we share. The Diaper Bank puts those values into action by serving families of all backgrounds throughout Maine. In 2025, the JCA distributed 290,050 diapers to an average of 965 children each distribution month. Currently, the Diaper Bank serves clients in Lewiston, Gray, Raymond, Mechanic Falls, Brunswick, Saco, Biddeford, Gorham, Windham, Standish, Buxton, Steep Falls, Scarborough, South Portland, Portland, and Westbrook. As we continue to see the impacts of inflation, diapers continue to be a barrier for families, and without clean diapers, babies are exposed to potential health risks and toxic stress, and mothers are at risk for increased maternal depression. In a letter recognizing National Diaper Need Awareness Week, Maine Governor Janet Mills thanked the state’s diaper banks, staff, volunteers, and donors for their service and specifically recognized the JCA among the trusted community-based organizations working to distribute diapers to families throughout Maine. “We thank Governor Mills for recognizing the work of so many across our community to address diaper need,” said Susan Cohen, CEO of the JCA. “Jewish tradition reminds us that we are responsible for one another, and that caring for our neighbors is both an obligation and an expression of our deepest values. Through this work, we seek to ensure that every family has the dignity, resources, and opportunity they need to thrive.” The work of the KJFS Diaper Bank is only possible because of the community behind it. In 2025, the Diaper Bank had over 80 volunteers, including 50 individual volunteers as well as many corporate and student volunteer groups who donated over 700 volunteer hours. Volunteers help receive, organize, package, deliver, and prepare diapers for distribution, while individuals, businesses, foundations, government partners, and community organizations provide the financial and material resources needed to keep shelves stocked. Margaret Mailander, Director of Michael Klahr Jewish Family Services shares that "addressing the immediate diaper need is important and as the National Diaper Bank Network has made clear through their research, diaper need is a systemic issue caused by economic and social systems and therefore requires our collective support to find solutions that are structural." During National Diaper Need Awareness Week, KJFS encourages Mainers to learn more about diaper need, organize diaper drives, volunteer, and support the continued availability of diapers for families throughout the state. Please donate to the Jewish Family Services Diaper Bank at Diaper Bank . About Michael Klahr Jewish Family Services KJFS is the social services department of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, providing programs and resources that support individuals and families and strengthen communities throughout Maine. Guided by Jewish values and open to people of all backgrounds, KJFS works to meet immediate needs while fostering dignity, connection, and well-being. About the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine The Jewish Community Alliance (JCA) is a central hub for Jewish life, education, and community support. We provide meaningful programs, essential services, and opportunities to connect. Rooted in Jewish values, history, and our connection to Israel, the JCA cultivates and sustains a welcoming and thriving Jewish community in Maine and strives to build a better world for all.

A Call for Peace and Responsible Rhetoric

July 31, 2026
A Call for Peace & Responsible Rhetoric

Remembering, Rebuilding, and Resilience: JCRC Hosts Eugene Damlich

July 15, 2026
Last week, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine welcomed Eugene Damlich, a survivor of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, for a special lunch and community dialogue. Eugene shared the story of losing his family, surviving unimaginable violence, and rebuilding his life in the years that followed. The only surviving child in a family of five children, Eugene later immigrated to the United States, where, as an adult, he found love and belonging with a Jewish-American family. The gathering was not simply a testimony program, but a genuine exchange between communities. Eugene asked participants how the Jewish community has preserved Holocaust memory while helping survivors and their descendants live with hope, dignity, and purpose. He also invited discussion about forgiveness, justice, healing, and the responsibility to transmit memory across generations. Several people at the table were children of Holocaust survivors—one JCRC member, Anna Wrobel, shared that her mother was also the sole survivor of her family—profoundly relating to Eugene in a way that few others can.  In preparation for the lunch, the JCRC held its first movie night, where participants watched Sometimes in April, a 2005 historical drama about the Rwandan Genocide. Last week’s lunch also built upon the JCRC’s participation in this year’s Kwibuka, which annually commemorates the Rwandan Genocide; JCRC members walked in the memorial procession, and a post-Kwibuaka gathering for Maine’s Tutsi community was held at the JCA. We are deeply grateful to Eugene for sharing his testimony, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen the relationship between Maine’s Jewish and Tutsi communities.
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