Ross Health and Wellness Fund Update

Several months ago, we were delighted to announce the creation of the Ross Health and Wellness Fund, part of the Foundation for Jewish Life at FJMC International. The program was established and endowed by Drs. Mitchell and Heather Ross, both of whom are fully committed to improving the wellness of those they work with and the larger community.

For the first quarter in which applications were accepted, we are happy to announce that three programs were selected for grants. They represent groups across the country and all proposed wellness ideas which can be replicated by clubs or regions. The first was from Neveh Shalom, of Portland, OR. They proposed a 5K race for their club which served as a fundraiser to support both physical health and a local food pantry. Running for themselves and others was deemed to be an outstanding way to put activity into practice.

The New England Region applied to create a first annual Health and Wellness Fair. This will be a regional featuring speakers and exhibitors with health talks, demonstrations, healthy giveaways and screenings. The idea of creating a regional event made it clear that health and wellness are priorities within FJMC and combining the resources of multiple clubs should allow for more thorough offerings. They hope to apply some of what they learn from this to the International Convention.

Next, one of our newest clubs to return to FJMC International, Adas Israel in Washington, DC, applied to create a series of health talks with raffles for health-based products. They have the hope and expectation that this will become an ongoing part of their programming, with a wish to offer valuable information while raffling items which will support better health and wellness.

The Health and Wellness Committee of FJMC International is in charge of receiving and reviewing all applications and making recommendations to the Foundation to offer financial support to clubs and regions creating programs to enhance health. The next set of applications will be due by October 1^st and we hope that this encourages you to participate.

You can find the necessary guidelines and application form on the website at https://fjmc.org/initiatives/wellness-initiative/ross-health-and-wellness-fund/ and all applications should be submitted to .