When Danny Abramowitz returned to the Washington, D.C., area as a young 20-something, he was just starting to make money and wanted to use it for good.
“I was trying to figure out what [cause] I should support with whatever bit I had that I could give,” the Potomac resident recalled.
Abramowitz looked to the Jewish community leaders and philanthropists in the area — recipients of the Joseph Ottenstein Award, the very honor that Abramowitz and his wife, Wendi, will soon receive — to see what organizations they gave to.
“They were supporting everything, which was a problem,” he said. “But JSSA was one of the names that came up consistently. Everybody was giving to JSSA.”
So Abramowitz followed their example and attended the Jewish Social Service Agency’s annual gala in the early 1990s — the first of many.
“I wanted to support the Jewish community first and foremost,” Abramowitz said. “I always felt … that our focus should be on the Jewish community first, and then other things second.”
He added that larger secular nonprofits can draw support from the entire United States, and sometimes, the world. “Nobody supports a Jewish organization unless they’re Jewish, primarily,” Abramowitz said. “So if we don’t support ourselves, no one else will.”
He was also impressed with JSSA’s scope of local resources: temporary in-home care, long-term care, hospice, disability and chronic illness support, mental health care, family support, meal delivery and a Holocaust survivor program.
And clients don’t have to be Jewish to use its services.
“What was nice about JSSA is … it’s a Jewish agency founded by the Jewish community to support the Jewish community that has now expanded into bringing those Jewish values to the broader community and offering that support and those services to anyone that needed it,” Abramowitz said.
After a Jewish Federation singles mission to Israel introduced him to his future wife, Wendi, in the summer of 1993, Abramowitz brought her as a plus-one to a JSSA gala: “I think [its work] struck with her right away.”
The Abramowitzes, who have supported the agency since the 1990s, will be honored at JSSA’s annual The Stars Come Out event, this year on May 6, with the Joseph Ottenstein Award.
Named for a past president of JSSA in 1959, the award is a recognition of excellent community service leadership. The Potomac couple fits the bill, according to Todd Schenk, JSSA’s CEO.
“If you go to just about any agency in the community, they would know the Abramowitz family,” Schenk said. “Their values show up not just in writing a check, but how they impart their values on their children and how they lead by example, showing up and doing things with the community that helps strengthen our community and take care of people.”
Danny is a true local, having grown up in the D.C. area attending Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and shooting hoops at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington.
Wendi hails from Baltimore, and lived in the District when she met Danny. The two are a JSSA volunteer powerhouse: “She does a lot of on-the-ground volunteer work; I do a lot in a boardroom,” Danny said.
Wendi has delivered nutritious meals through JSSA’s Meals on Wheels program for decades, chaired three JSSA events and served as a board member. She is also a founding member of JSSA’s Women’s Giving Group.
Years ago, the Abramowitzes co-chaired one of JSSA’s spring galas along with another couple.
Danny has served on the boards of the Bender JCC, CESJDS and Makom, formerly Jewish Foundation for Group Homes, and the United Jewish Endowment Fund. He also served on the executive committees of the Bender JCC, CESJDS and Makom, and chaired investment and budget committees for all three organizations, with a stint as the chair of the United Jewish Endowment Fund.
At B’nai Israel Congregation, where the Abramowitzes belong, Wendi founded and co-chaired the social action committee, organized a gala and silent auction when the shul was looking to construct a new building, and brought Makom residents to play bingo on multiple occasions. She and Danny established an Israel Bonds program at the shul, which encouraged b’nai mitzvah kids to invest in Israel through the purchase of an Israel bond by matching the amount of their purchase.
A Lion of Judah through the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Wendi chaired the Bender JCC’s book fair for four consecutive years and organized an auction to fundraise for Makom.
“I love it because giving is so much better than receiving,” Wendi said. “If you can give and help indirectly, help someone to have a better life, it’s so worthwhile.”
The Abramowitzes are grateful to be recognized with the Joseph Ottenstein Award for their decades of community service and philanthropy, but both are somewhat in disbelief.
“I feel great about it,” Wendi said. “I was really surprised that they chose us to honor.”
“The names of the people that have received this award in the past are people that I thought were pillars of the community and visionaries and leaders, and I never really considered us to be in the same category,” Danny said. “So it’s very humbling. We’re very honored and appreciative.”
