Portland, January 13, 2014. Philanthropist, Arlene Schnitzer with the support of her son Jordan Schnitzer, has earmarked $5 million from the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Family Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation (OJCF) as the lead gift in Cedar Sinai Park’s Capital Campaign. (Arlene Schnitzer is pictured with with Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson from the Portland Art Museum) OJCF is Cedar Sinai Park’s legacy planning and investment partner. The Foundation’s Board of Directors announced that it has happily approved Mrs. Schnitzer’s funding recommendation. It has been requested that this designated gift be made in Mrs. Schnitzer’s name and in the name of her husband, Harold Schnitzer, who passed away in 2011.
Harold and Arlene Schnitzer in the Japanese Garden in 2010
“Harold would be proud to see our family’s participation in helping to build a new vision for the way services are delivered to elders in the Jewish as well as broader community. It brings us great comfort to know that many will have access to this facility and its wonderful services for decades to come,” exclaimed Mrs. Schnitzer.
“Our son, Jordan, spent 16 years leading Cedar Sinai Park and led the development of the May Apartments, Rose Schnitzer Manor, and helped to restructure the operations of the nonprofit in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Our family has always felt it was important to not only honor our elders, but help provide the quality of life and care so our seniors can live with dignity and peace. We are confident that Portland’s funding community will rise to the challenge involved in this gift and help to build this new care center and to build the endowment that will assure that it will be well managed for generations to come,” said Mrs. Schnitzer.
To meet the changing needs of current and future generations, CSP’s Capital Campaign will raise the funds necessary to renovate the existing Robison Jewish Health Center (so all rooms will be private), and develop a new care and rehabilitation center in SW Portland to be named the Harold Schnitzer Health and Rehabilitation Care Center. To be built is a four-story household model featuring private bedrooms and bathrooms, and shared kitchens and living rooms to help residents sustain meaningful connections to family and friends…all while receiving the highest quality of professional medical care that has been the hallmark of our services.
The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Family Donor Advised Fund of the OJCF was established in 2012 as a result of the largest gift ever made to Portland’s Jewish community. According to Harold Schnitzer’s wishes, Park Tower Apartments was gifted by the family to OJCF in October 2012 to honor Harold and to continue his legacy.
“On behalf of the OJCF Board and entire organization, we are honored to partner with the Schnitzer family and Cedar Sinai Park. The establishment of the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer Family Donor Advised Fund represents a tremendous vote of confidence in the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation as a vehicle for the distribution and fulfillment of philanthropic goals of all sizes and scope,” said Sharon Morell, President of the Board of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation.
Three million dollars of the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Family Fund’s generous Capital Campaign gift has been designated as a fundraising challenge grant (encouraging others to follow suit); $1.75 million will be given as a top-off grant at the end of the community fundraising effort. In addition, $250,000 has been designated as a challenge grant for the purpose of creating an endowment for new Care Center’s building maintenance.
“We are honored by this gift and by the remarkable leadership and confidence it represents. Cedar Sinai Park is very grateful to the entire Schnitzer family for all it has done…Arlene Schnitzer’s desire to fulfill her husband Harold’s wish is something for which we will be eternally grateful and Jordan’s 33-year history of supporting seniors in the community is unprecedented,” said Jim Winkler, Chair of the Cedar Sinai Park Capital Campaign.
The total Cedar Sinai Park Capital and Endowment Campaign goal is $28 million. With this gift from the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Family Fund, more than $11 million has been raised to date of the $18 million community fundraising goal. It is anticipated that $7.5 million in bonds will also be sold in order to complete the construction financing. In addition, $2.5 million will be raised by CSP to create a maintenance endowment for the healthcare buildings.
“We are so grateful to the late Harold Schnitzer and his family for their leadership and vision, and our Board and community are determined to meet and exceed the challenges built into this marvelous gift,” said Paul Frisch, President of the Board of Cedar Sinai Park.
“The foundation is honored to play a unique role in facilitating the incredible generosity of Harold, Arlene and Jordan Schnitzer in support of Cedar Sinai Park’s Capital Campaign. This long-standing partnership with CSP for the benefit of outstanding healthcare for our elders and disabled again demonstrates Harold, Arlene and Jordan’s dedication to caring for the most vulnerable in our community. This gift will surely inspire others to join in support of this important endeavor,” said Julie Diamond, Executive Director of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation.
Portland, December 15th, 2013. Portland Jewish Academy’s Annual Auction was a huge success.. With a theme of Sunday Night Fever, attendees dressed up in afros, bright colored shirts and bell bottoms to show their spirit for the occasion; Stacy Barna, Carmen Borg, Jordan Schnitzer looked over the auction items. (Photo credit, Oolite Photography) The auction was filled with fabulous items including art created by the students themselves. The result: $555,000 raised for Scholarships and S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). A big thanks to the Community Grand Patron Sponsors: Steve “Rosy” Rosenberg and Ellen Lippman as well as The Jay & Diane Zidell Charitable Foundation.
Portland, December 6th. Lewis & Clark President Barry Glassner and his wife, literary agent Betsy Amster, welcomed guest to their historic home for some holiday cheer. Michelle Dorman, Mark Dorman, Betsy Amster, Barry Glassner, Libby McCaslin, and James Richardson enjoyed the evening together. (Photo credit, Brian Foulkes)
Tuajuanda Jordan, Robert Klonoff
John Bates, Jordan Schnitzer, Barry Glassner
Liz Dahl, Peter Bhatia, Barry Glassner
James Richardson, Carol Timm, Geoff Owen
The halls of Cooley House were elegantly decorated and echoed with cool jazz of the popular Dan Balmer Trio
Dan Balmer, Randy Rollofson
Betsy Amster, Barry Glassner, Jennifer Putney, Chuck Putney
From Lewis & Clark:
A Lewis & Clark education isn’t like anything you could experience anywhere else. We’re a private institution with a public conscience, a residential campus with global reach. Students and faculty throughout all three of Lewis & Clark’s schools—the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Education and Counseling, and the Law School—pursue new ways of knowing by combining classic liberal learning with pioneering collaboration.
Our students represent the next generation of global thinkers and leaders, unafraid to discard conventional thinking, civic complacency, and outmoded preconceptions. Yet they value what Lewis & Clark offers: an education built from the time-tested elements of careful study, original research, and spirited debate.
So what makes the experience of our students unique? How about the inspiring beauty of our natural setting, on 137 wooded acres in Portland’s southwest hills. Or our rich history and our diverse, multicultural present. Or our commitment to interdisciplinary academic learning, as well as community engagement here in Portland and around the world.
Add to this our well-stocked libraries, award-winning green buildings, and outstanding athletic facilities; our implementation of technology and the innovative research it allows; and above all our committed and engaged students, teachers, mentors, staff, alumni, donors, and friends. It all adds up to Lewis & Clark, a place where agile minds come to learn, to explore, and to work together.
Portland, August 1st. The Portland Japanese Garden announced the largest gift in its history, a $1,000,000 endowment donation from The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation to establish The Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art & Education. (Arlene is pictured in the Japanese Garden in 2010 with her late husband. Harold Schnitzer, the Portland real estate and philanthropic powerhouse, died in 2011 from complications related to cancer and diabetes. He was 87.)
“As a citizen of Oregon it is important to me to ensure the longevity of Portland’s prestigious Japanese Garden, which is considered to be one of the finest examples in the world outside of Japan,” says Arlene Schnitzer. “I am thrilled, along with the other trustees, to help maintain the Garden’s celebrated status by granting a significant gift to their upcoming expansion capital campaign.”
The gift fulfills one-third of the $3 million goal for endowment support needed toward the Garden’s planned expansion. The endowment will help fund the permanent curatorial position at the Garden that develops and oversees cultural, art, and education programs. The Portland Japanese Garden will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2013.
This series of programs was launched in 2007 under the leadership of Diane Durston, who will now be named the The Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art & Education. New and enhanced programs presented at the Garden over the past five years include annual public lectures by nationally and internationally known speakers, authentic Japanese cultural festivals, the annual Art in the Garden exhibition series, and new programs for teachers and underserved school children. The goal of these programmatic advances is to bring new audiences to the Garden, enhance the visitor experience, and raise awareness of the broader cultural context in which Japanese gardens evolved.
Speakers in the Garden’s lecture series have included world-class experts in Japanese gardens and related fields such as Hoichi Kurisu, Shiro Nakane, and Marc Peter Keane. The groundbreaking Parallel Worlds: Art of the Ainu of Hokkaido and Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest drew more than 26,000 visitors to the Garden in June 2009. Other exhibitions have included internationally recognized artists in the field of traditional and contemporary Japanese arts including sculpture, prints, bonsai, and more.
“The creation of this endowment will support the Garden’s efforts to be a world leader in the field of Japanese gardens and culture,” says Steve Bloom, CEO of the Portland Japanese Garden. “The gift is a significant endorsement for the important work of the organization and the planned expansion project. We are fortunate to be the recipient of Arlene’s inspiring generosity.”
The Portland Japanese Garden is in the process of planning for an expansion designed to preserve and enhance the tranquility of the existing Garden, respond to increased visitor numbers, and take advantage of opportunities in the areas of education, environmental sustainability, revenue generation through visitor amenities, and enhancing visitor and member services.
Arlene Schnitzer and her family have a long history with the Garden. She and her late husband, Harold Schnitzer, made a significant gift to the Garden’s renovation of the iconic Zig Zag Bridge in 2010. Arlene’s sister-in-law Mildred Schnitzer was a founding board member of the Garden, her son Jordan Schnitzer is a past president of the Board of Directors, and her nephew Alan Davis is currently on the Garden’s Board of Directors. Arlene is also an active member of the Garden’s Golden Crane Society and its International Advisory Board.
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About the Portland Japanese Garden:
The Portland Japanese Garden is the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. Situated on more than 5 acres nestled in the scenic west hills of Portland, the Garden features five traditional garden styles. The Garden is located above Washington Park at 611 SW Kingston Ave. in SW Portland, Oregon and is open daily except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Visit the Garden online at www.japanesegarden.com.
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