More than 200 Jewish leaders today honored Samuel D. Leidesdorf, veteran volunteer fund-raiser for charitable causes, at a luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Birthday presents took the form of contributions to the New York and Brooklyn Federations of Jewish Charities which are now making their fifth joint appeal.
George Z. Medalie, president of the New York Federation, presented Mr. Leidesdorf with an illuminated scroll inscribed in the form of a resolution and singed by those who contributed. It read in part: “Resolved that we be allowed this year to turn the tables and invite you as our guest to an old-fashioned Federation fundraising luncheon believing that you will find it a solicitor’s dream come true to see us all gathered together in one room, instead of scattered through the five boroughs, ready and willing to have you perform your familiar task of soliciting our generosity for our cherished home charities embraced in the New York and Brooklyn Federations of Jewish Charities.”
In cutting a birthday cake containing 60 candles, Mr. Leidesdorf who is chairman of the board of the Business Men’s Council, permanent fund-raising organization of the two Federations, said: “These are not happy days to celebrate a birthday. On the other hand, they are precisely days which make me realize how grateful I ought to be for the privilege of working for charity.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
