The United Jewish Appeal has collected $400.8 million for 1985, the largest cash collection of any peacetime year in UJA history, according to a special announcement by UJA national chairman Alex Grass.
Calling the record cash collection “a magnificent achievement,” Grass added that “it was a landmark year made even more extraordinary by the fact that the vast majority of communities throughout the country exceeded their 1984 cash remittances. Furthermore,” said Grass, “this is only a part of what was collected, since millions of dollars were utilized for urgent local community needs.”
In citing cash highlights, Grass mentioned that on December 31, 1985, the UJA received $36,4 million in cash, the largest amount ever received on any December 31 since the establishment of the UJA in 1939. In December, 1985, $90.2 million was collected, the second highest amount ever received in any December. (Operation Moses was responsible for the higher total amount of $101.2 million received in December, 1984.)
Grass paid special tribute to Bernie Borine, the UJA’s national cash chairman, for his “innovative leadership and dedication in seeing a complex task through to a successful conclusion.”
While noting that the final surge of money coming in has prevented seriously threatened cutbacks in UJA lifesaving programs, Grass emphasized that the same level of collection intensity is required at the same time the ’86 Campaign increases its momentum.
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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.
