Jewish Federation of Cincinnati honors volunteers, professionals at 116th annual meeting

The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati will hold its 116th Annual Meeting, Imagine Cincinnati in 2020, on Tuesday, May 22, at 7 p.m., at the Mayerson JCC.

The evening will include a special announcement about the first major project of Cincinnati 2020, the community-wide collaboration to develop a long-term strategic plan with the goal of making Cincinnati a model community and a Jewish destination. The announcement at the Annual Meeting will be the first time the public will hear about this groundbreaking initiative.

Also, as is tradition, two Jewish community professionals will be awarded with Weston Avodah Awards. This year’s “Junior” award recipient is Rabbi Laura Baum, the founding rabbi of the online congregation OurJewishCommunity. Rabbi Baum graduated from Yale University in 2001 and was ordained by Hebrew Union College (HUC) in 2008. While a student at HUC she won the Israel Bettan Memorial Prize for the most creative and imaginative pulpit presentation and the Rabbi Morris H. Youngerman Memorial Prize for the best sermon preached in the HUC chapel during the 2007 academic year. She is currently pursuing an M.B.A. at Xavier University.

The “Senior” Weston Avodah Award will go to Sharon Stern, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Director of Community Building. As director of community building, Stern is the lead staff member for Cincinnati 2020. Additionally, she oversees and coordinates planning and allocations, organizational development, senior leadership development and agency relations. Prior to coming to Cincinnati in 2004, Stern was with the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh for 19 years. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in education and from the University of Pittsburgh with an M.S. in Information Science.

The Goldstein “Volunteer of the Year” Award will also be given out at the Annual Meeting, to community volunteer Dick Weiland, the founder and president of Richard Consulting Corporation, a public relations consulting agency that provides lobbying and mediation skills to over 60 companies and numerous nonprofit organizations. Weiland is a tireless community activist whose work has enhanced the quality of life in Cincinnati, in the states of Ohio and Kentucky and throughout the nation. Public recognitions named in his honor include the Weiland Room at Talbert House, Dick Weiland Hall at The American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College, Halom House’s Weiland/Zeff Home, the Weiland Rosedale Education Center at Kollel and Gate to Mt. Scopus in Israel. He currently serves on more than 30 boards and commissions.

In addition, the service and commitment of volunteers from throughout the community will be recognized. The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and the volunteers’ nominating agencies, organizations and congregations will honor these individuals’ dedication to moving the community forward toward the vision of Cincinnati 2020: all of us caring for each other, connecting to our community and discovering our Jewish identity.