JEF holds annual event at Higgins Hotel; honors Loewys, Jill Israel & Bonnie Lustig
By ALAN SMASON, Exclusive to the CCJN
Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana (JEF) executive director Bobby Garon served as the impromptu emcee for the annual event gathering held last Sunday morning, March 30, at the Higgins Hotel adjacent to the National World War II Museum.
Robert “Bobby” Garon welcomes supporters of the JEF to the Higgins Hotel at the annual event on Sun., March 30, 2025. (Photo by Alan Smason)
The event is meant not as a fundraiser, but instead is an opportunity to honor community leaders from across several sectors of the Jewish community who have made a difference in practicing philanthropic giving or helping others to do so.
Prior to the presentation of awards, Garon announced that at the end of 2024 a preliminary unaudited accounting of assets put funds under JEF’s management at “a tad under $111 million.”
He stated that reflected a rise of about $11 million up from the previous year. “The number is in no small measure to the incredible generosity of the community,” Garon continued. “What I’ve learned from my six-plus years at JEF is that the market will always fluctuate – and we’re seeing it now – but what remains consistent is your unwavering support.”
Former JEF executive director Sandy Levy. (Photo by Alan Smason)
He added that the $5 million endowment campaign announced a year ago has now reached 85% of its goal and stands at approximately $4.25 million. Fueled by matching donations from three anonymous donors, each of the five constituent agencies of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans – upon the successful completion of the campaig –will receive matching funds of $1 million each that will endow a legacy for them moving forward.
Garon also announced that the JEF board has recently agreed to honor longtime JEF executive director Saundra “Sandy” Levy by renaming the Jewish community professional award to incorporate her name. It will henceforth be known as the Saundra K. Levy and Helen A. Mervis Jewish Community Professional Award, he said.
JEF board president Bob Brickman honored immediate past president Alan Franco, calling him up to the podium for some words. “Alan’s one of the most caring and committed people to our Jewish community of New Orleans, Louisiana that I know,” Brickman said. “I think of his passionate support of the State of Israel and keeping that as a focus in all the way that we do as part of the foundation. I think of his passion for Jewish summer camp – our Henry S. Jacobs – but also camps all over the country and, of course, the Goldring Summer Camp Program that JEF administers. It’s so important and it has put so many children into Jewish summer camps.”
JEF board president Bob Brickman presents immediate past president Alan Franco with a tribute for his years of service to JEF. (Photo by Alan Smason)
Franco thanked his wife Diane and described a recent trip to the northernmost portion Israel where he had toured several small towns hit by Hezbollah rocket fire. “I went through many of the houses that had been hit and I started thinking about what we went through 20 years ago. The only difference is ours was water and they had fire” he reflected.
He stated that the resiliency of the Israeli orchard farmers struck him as similar to the desire for the New Orleans community to rebuild from the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. “Through the leadership of organizations like JEF made this community even better. So, I appreciate the kind words. I don’t usually like the kind words, but Am Yisrael Chai and thank you very much,” he concluded.
At the conclusion of his short talk, Brickman took the opportunity to present an acrylic trophy that thanked Franco for his years of service to JEF.
Honored in a preliminary video, Bonnie Lustig was singled out as this year’s recipient of the Saundra K. Levy and Helan A. Mervis Jewish Community Professional Award. Lustig hss worked for many years with the Jewish Children’s Regional Service (JCRS) for children with special needs and as an administrator for the PJ Library that. She has also taught weekly religious school and Hebrew school as well as helping students prepare for bar and bat mitzvahs for the past 26 years.
Bob Brickman, left, presents Bonnie Lustig with the Saundra K. Levy and Helen A. Mervis Jewish Community Professional Award. (Photo by Alan Smason)
On accepting the award, she recalled an act of kindness by former JEF administrator Ellen Abrams, who drove from Baton Rouge to the hurricane-damaged JEF offices in downtown New Orleans to retrieve a special tzedakah box and send it to Chicago where Lustig’s family had relocated in time for her daughter Sarah’s bat mitzvah.
“Sarah still has that tzedakah box and I have never forgotten that kindness from 20 years ago,” Bonnie Lustig said, “Thank you JEF.”
She thanked her colleagues at JCRS who were there and sent a special acknowledgement to her family and espeically her husband Art with whom she had just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.
“Serving the Jewish community has given me a lifetime of meaning. Thank you for this honor,” she concluded.
Garon next spoke on behalf of Jill Israel, who was given the Endowment Achievement Award. Israel eschewed having a video made of her in advance. Garon recounted many of the Jewish community boards she had joined previously. These include the Anti-Defamation League, on which she is the current chair as well as Touro Synagogue, the Touro Synagogue Foundation and Touro Infirmary boards.
Bobby Garon, left, with honoree Jill Israel. (Photo by Alan Smason
“She consistently goes above and beyond to make a meaningful impact on each project and task that she is assigned and takes on willfully,” Garon noted.
Garon noted that Israel’s husband Dave was in attendance, but that all of her family members who had hoped to attend the event were all sidelined with bad colds that kept them home.
Israel acknowledged the crowd and thanked those at her table who filled in for her absent family members.
The most significant award presented at the annual JEF event is the Tzekakah Award, which was presented to Lynn and Rabbi Robert Loewy, the Emeritus Rabbi at Congregation Gates of Prayer.
A video recalled Rabbi Loewy’s efforts at Gates of Prayer and during the Hurricane Katrina recovery when he and family members had to relocate teporarily to Houston. Lynn noted the work she had done to partner with her husband, ” but mostly to soak in the goodness of him.”
Lynn Lowey, left, and Rabbi Robert Loewy, right, receive the Tzedakah Award from JEF board president Bob Brickman. (Photo by Alan Smason)
The Loewys have in recently years made a move to Houston to be closer to their daughter’s family and especially to their granddaughter.
“Our heart will always be in New Orleans,” Lynn Loewy said in the video. The rabbi also noted with a bit of levity that they have reservations at the Joseph Street Cemetery, “so we will be New Orleanians in the long run,” he said.
The Loewys brought their small granddaughter to the stage with them as they accepted their honor.
Not missing an opportunity to speak, Rabbi Loewy congratulated both of the other recipients because, as he pointed out, he had been their rabbi.
“New Orleans is a Jewish community,” he mused. “Now that’s different than other cities. Other cities may have large Jewish populations – Houston, lots of Jews – but New Orleans is a community. I can look out and we know one another from all the different congregations and all the different organizations. We come together as a community and that’s so very special.”
In addition to rebuilding the community after Hurricane Katrina, he recounted several of his other accomplishments in New Orleans including the establishment of the Louise Manheim Preschool for Early Childhood Education at Gates of Prayer and the building of the Oscar Tolmas Community Mikvah.
