Congratulations to JFS Volunteer, Susan Schulman, who was recognized with a Heart & Hands Award at this year's Utah Philanthropy Day celebration on November 15. The Heart & Hands award honors community members for their outstanding dedication to making a difference in Utah.
Several years ago, Susan Schulman approached Jewish Family Service. She had a concern and an idea about how to address it. Susan was involved in long distance caregiving for her father and depended on the wonderful caregiver she and her sisters had hired to care for him. Susan began to think about the difficult job of being a formal caregiver – the long hours, meeting the needs of a person who often is in a progressively deteriorating situation. Susan also recognized how important this caregiver was to her father and to her and her family, as well, offering them peace of mind and the knowledge that someone was there to meet his needs. She then began to think about the needs of these professional caregivers and what she could do for them and for the families they are helping. Susan suggested to Ellen Silver, Executive Director of JFS, that she would like to set up a special fund to assist those caregivers who were helping families in Utah’s Jewish Community. Today, the JFS Caregiver Support Fund helps support professional and independent caregivers serving Utah’s Jewish Community.
Susan has also served as ‘Volunteer Recycler’ for the JFS office, which has been an incredible help since JFS has a lot to recycle (mostly cardboard boxes from the food bank). Susan has gone above and beyond for JFS for many years, in many capacities. We are thrilled to have her efforts celebrated along with other incredible volunteers making a difference in our community.
