Falk Foundation Gives $500,000 Grant to Pittsburgh Jewish Federation

The United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh has been given a $500,000 grant from the Maurice and Laura Falk Foundation, it was announced here today by UJF president Lester A. Hamburg. He stated that the grant would be in the form of an endowment fund, the income from which would be used for the following purposes:

1) To provide for capital repairs or improvements of Federation agencies that cannot be met from regular sources; 2) To meet the occasional emergency capital expenditures required by member agencies; and 3) To provide funds to initiate capital fund-raising efforts by agencies for major capital repairs, replacement, additions, or new facilities.

In accepting the grant on behalf of the Federation, Mr. Hamburg expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the board of managers of the Foundation and particularly to Leon Falk, Jr., chairman, for his continued leadership in the Pittsburgh Jewish community. “The establishment of this endowment fund will provide a much-needed source of revenue for purposes that, heretofore, have only been available by sacrificing other needed services,” he said.

The Maurice and Laura Falk Endowment Fund will enable the Federation to schedule major repairs and replacement of agency facilities, so that they will be kept in safe and workable condition. The fund will also strengthen the community’s social planning process, in that UJF recommendations for an agency to add to or modify its facilities to meet a community need might be accompanied by an appropriation from the fund to initiate the agency’s own efforts in raising the necessary capital. The UJF board of directors will administer expenditures from the endowment fund income. The fund itself will be supervised by the UJF finance committee, subject to the authority of the UJF board.