Helaine z’’l and Ike z’’l Heller were longtime Scotch Plains residents and most generous supporters of the former Jewish Federation of Central NJ, which merged with MetroWest in 2012 to become Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ.
In honor of their parents’ legacy of supporting engagement in Jewish life, particularly for those with financial hardship, the four daughters of Helaine and Ike – Laurie Kaufman, Audrey Romberg, Hollie Heller, and Hillary Granfield – made a $2 million gift to establish the Isaac and Helaine Heller Financial Assistance Endowment for the JCC of Central NJ.
This transformative endowment, housed at the Jewish Community Foundation, provides an annual grant to the JCC to cover assistance to an estimated 75 to 100 individuals every year for membership dues, preschool, kindergarten, after school, camp, and other JCC programs. In this way, the Heller Endowment offers access to high-quality Jewish programming for countless individuals and families, elevating and enhancing their lives and the broader Jewish community, for generations to come. With this incredible gift, the Heller Family is being honored in our community’s historic Centennial Campaign at the Conservators ($2 million+) level.
“Our parents cared a lot about ensuring that families could access quality Jewish programs, regardless of ability to pay,” said Laurie Kaufman. “The JCC Central is really an incredible organization that offers so many wonderful programs, and it’s located right in our hometown where our parents lived for decades and helped build the Jewish community. This felt like a natural fit to all of us to honor our parents in this way and strengthen this agency and this community into the future.”
Laurie Kaufman, Audrey Romberg, Hollie Heller, and Hillary Granfield also generously made a Centennial sponsorship commitment in honor of their parents, Helaine z’’l and Ike z’’l Heller, to support the many Centennial events this year, providing access to many community members to for Jewish engagement in this historic year.
