Donor Spotlight:

Betty Sunshine

For Betty Sunshine, immediate past Chair of Women’s Philanthropy, giving back is in her DNA. The daughter of Holocaust survivors who came to America after liberation, Betty knows the meaning of Jewish community. Her parents were embraced by Jewish organizations that helped them piece together a new life after losing everything in the Holocaust.

According to Betty, “the term giving back says it all. The Jewish community was an essential part of my family history and a part of my formative years through religious school, Jewish camping, and teen social groups. It is what I wanted to provide for my children and what I hope will still be there in years to come.”

That’s the spirit behind Betty’s legacy gift to the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. As she thought more and more about what was important to her, Betty focused on the idea that “the strength of our community is through helping others. I wanted my gift to continue to help others long into the future.”

To accomplish her legacy gift, Betty spoke to friends within Women’s Philanthropy who had endowed their Lion of Judah level gift. She explored various options and realized that for her specific situation, the best way to accomplish her legacy gift was through a bequest in her estate plan, which will establish the Betty Sunshine Lion of Judah Endowment Fund. This fund will make a gift to the Community Campaign in perpetuity. “I believe philanthropy empowers us to become leaders and to move forward in strength. The world admires the Jewish people because of our resilience as a people and that is attributable to our sense of community.”

For Betty, the ultimate act of leadership was endowing her annual campaign gift to Federation, enabling her Jewish values to live on from generation to generation.

The Houston Jewish Community Foundation is a donor centered community foundation which seeks to perpetuate Jewish values and institutions through the acquisition, professional management, and distribution of charitable resources.