Representatives of the Valley Alliance celebrated the successes of the past year at their annual meeting, held June 13 at the Bernard Milken Community Campus in West Hills.
Among the achievements noted were the long-awaited opening of the Fern Milken Sports & Youth Complex, the aid provided to the Kosovo refugees, two successful concert fundraisers and the establishment of the Advanced Leadership Seminar to train community leaders in the West Valley. Asked what was his proudest accomplishment, outgoing president Arthur Jablon said it was the growing unity of the Valley’s Jewish community that made his term worthwhile.
“Having the community come together as demonstrated by the grassroots support for the Sports & Youth Complex shows a real desire for involvement. We need to build on that,” he said. Jablon presented gifts of thanks on behalf of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles to many of the organization’s volunteers, including the Young Leadership award, which went jointly to two couples, Cheryl and David Lewis and Amy and Andrew Gordon. Jablon also lauded Ken Warner, the 1999-2000 campaign chair, who he said “embodies the United Jewish Fund.”
The outgoing president then surprised his wife, Mady, with the delivery of 36 long-stemmed roses, “one for every month of my tenure.”
During his speech later that evening, Jack Mayer, director of the Valley Alliance, credited his lay counterpart with expanding the organization’s power base and motivating community leaders to create more inclusive events.
The new president for the coming term is Margy Rosenbluth, former campaign chair for the Valley Alliance and a member of both the executive board and the board of directors for Federation and Valley Alliance.
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