The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington announced on June 24 that it will issue $550,000 in grants to local Jewish organizations to combat antisemitism, with a focus on reaching teens and young adults — a mission the Federation has targeted for more than a year and a half with its annual fundraising campaign.
The Federation has worked overtime since the Oct. 7 attacks with a historic fundraising effort in the last quarter of 2023 and early 2024, while disseminating resources to help the community deal with rising antisemitism.
“We decided to focus particularly on teens because we felt it was an area that was not being addressed as fully as it needs to be. And it will help teenagers prepare as they transition to college,” Federation CEO Gil Preuss said.
The grants include $100,000 a year for three years to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, $150,000 in grants of $25,000 each to Federation’s six primary Campus Hillel partners and $300,000 toward initiatives focused on addressing the antisemitism impacting teens and young adults in the Greater Washington area.
The grants to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and to the local Hillels are part of the Federation’s Antisemitism Emergency Response grants, which total $250,000 for FY25. The $300,000 figure is part of the Federation’s Antisemitism Programmatic grants.
American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech will be the six Hillels receiving the funds. The Federation said the grants will be used to provide Jewish students on campus with a safe space and protect them from “growing threats and intimidation.”
Grants also went to:
• American Jewish Committee, which works with leaders and educators of local independent schools to address antisemitism;
• Facing History and Ourselves, a nonprofit organization that helps train teachers and develops curricula for public schools related to understanding bias and antisemitism, especially in Loudoun County and Prince George’s County, where there is a smaller Jewish student population;
• BBYO, to help Jewish teen leaders understand and work with peers to address antisemitism;
• Moving Traditions, which works with local synagogues to identify young leaders and address antisemitism in more progressive spaces; and
• Montgomery County Jewish Parents Coalition and Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.
Preuss said the rise in antisemitism is not only affecting students on college campuses.
“Obviously, since Oct. 7, there’s been a significant increase in antisemitism and antisemitic actions that we have faced. We all know [what is happening] in terms of university campuses, but [it’s] also facing many teens in schools,” Preuss said. “And so that has been an area of concern for us in our region.”
Zoe Bell contributed reporting to this article.
