An appeal to Seattle Jews for cash contributions to save Seattle’s debt-threatened Jewish Community Center produced a needed $1.5 million in a 10-day campaign to raise enough money to pay off interest and principal on a $4 million bank loan and save the center from default, a Seattle Jewish Federation official reported today. The $4 million was raised in addition to the regular Federation campaign.
Murray Shiff, Federation executive director, said that as of the tenth day before the May 16 deadline for total repayment, $2.5 million had been contributed in the public campaign. In the final campaign, led by two former Federation presidents, Samuel Stroum and Martin Rind, the extraordinary campaign ended with total cash contributions of $4,070,000, making possible complete repayment of the debt.
Shiff said gifts ranged from a few dollars to one of $500,000, with hundreds of small gifts. Jim Myers, the Federation’s campaign director on loan to the center for the special fund-raising, said there had been “selfless giving” from elderly Jews, on fixed incomes and contributions by children from their allowances. Myers said some Seattle Jews had cancelled long-planned trips to donate to the emergency campaign.
The problem stemmed from a decision to make a bank loan for a facility added to the center last September. Current high interest rates made it impossible to meet payments on schedule, posing the threat that that addition of defaulted payments would raise the total debt to levels which would have meant loss of the center building.
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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.
