A massive telephone solicitation program designed to reach more than 10,000 contributors in the New York area was launched tonight by 125 United Jewish Appeal leaders who were described by Frank R. Lautenberg, UJA general chairman, as an elite solicitation corps from key communities through out the country. The three-day appeal ending Wednesday is part of the New York UJA-Jewish Philanthropies Combined Appeal’s Total Mobilization Program. Lautenberg said this marks the greatest cooperative effort in history between the national UJA leadership and the NYC campaign.
“Thousands of individuals, who contributed an estimated $30 million to the UJA during the Yom Kippur War campaign could not be resolicited this year because of a lack of manpower in New York,” Lautenberg stated. “But the campaign leadership recognized that the economic situation in Israel is so critical that it was imperative to reach every member of New York’s Jewish community.” Continuing he said:
The Total Mobilization of American Jewry means that every man and woman must understand not only what the current needs are in Israel but also what are the consequences of our failure to provide for these needs. The solicitors involved in this joint effort represent the most sophisticated and knowledgeable men and women involved in the work of the UJA, and they are prepared to answer the most complex questions dealing with the humanitarian situation in Israel today.”
The national leaders, representing the Young Leadership Cabinet, Campaign Cabinet, Women’s Division and Operation Upgrade, are working with an equal number of New York City solicitors during the three-day appeal. The joint solicitation program is coordinated by Donald H. Benjamin, a member of the UJA Executive Committee and former National Chairman of its Young Leadership Cabinet, and William M. Landau.
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.
