Remarks from Rachael Alfond, Board Chair, Jewish Community Fund of Maine at the 2025 Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine Annual Meeting
Good evening! Thank you for being here. We would probably not be here, in this beautiful building, without the generosity of Suzi and Alfred Osher of blessed memory, long-time Maine residents and philanthropists. Mrs. Osher was the lead benefactor of the JCA's 2015 capital campaign, which allowed us to build this state-of-the-art community center. In gratitude, it's known as the Alfred and Suzi Osher Campus of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.
Suzi Osher was the daughter of French-Canadian immigrants, who faced substantial hardships during the Great Depression in Biddeford. Mrs. Osher learned to value education and hard work, taking her first job as a piano player at a local music store at age ten! After high school, she worked as a bookkeeper for Dr. Alfred Osher, a local oral surgeon and the first board-certified orthodontist in Maine. Dr. Osher was also raised in Biddeford in a family that believed in hard work and giving back. Several years later, she completed a course in anesthesiology at Boston City Hospital and began assisting him with procedures.
After the couple married, Mrs. Osher pursued her interests in business and fashion, opening a specialty clothing store in Biddeford, a venture she called her “real career.” She also began purchasing real estate at an early age, and managed many of the buildings herself. She began investing in the stock market in her early 20’s and continued throughout her long lifetime. She loved to read and always had a book by her side. She spent many hours reading financial publications to get investment ideas.
When Dr. Osher passed away in 1999 at the age of 80, she honored his memory by continuing this philanthropic journey of tikkun olam and tzedakah – repairing the world through acts of generosity in Maine and beyond, for another 26 years!
Upon Mrs. Osher's passing this past June at the age of 96, the JCA received a transformational gift from the Alfred Osher marital trust, furthering the spirit of philanthropy both within and beyond the Jewish community.
The JCA is honored to have been chosen and entrusted with this ultimate act of generosity from the Oshers. This gift is held in a new entity called the Jewish Community Fund of Maine. According to Mrs. Osher's will, the income of this investment shall be used exclusively within the states of Maine, New Hampshire and/or Vermont for the support of: Hebrew education; Jewish social and welfare programs; and outreach programs to promote Jewish traditions and values.
The JCA Board of Directors must vote to appoint all Directors of the JCFM. But before that could occur, numerous people assisted in planning for acceptance of “the gift” throughout the years, since Mrs. Osher had given notice that the J would be the beneficiary of the trust. I wish to express deep gratitude to the following community members, past and present JCA Board members, and past and present staff who
have helped ease this transition and make the formation of the JCFM possible (in alphabetical order!): Steve Brinn, Emily Chaleff, Molly Curren Rowles, Brian Goldberg, Eleanor Goldberg, Ashley Inbar, Leslie Kirby, Eric Kolben, Ben Marcus, Kenny Nelson, Sam Novick, Charlie Miller, Ellie Miller, Mike Peisner, Stuart Piltch, Tom Rosen, and the many, many JCA Board members who have served over the past few decades! I also wish to thank Dan Bruzgo, Mrs. Osher's accountant and trustee, for his years of assisting her with her philanthropy.
Then, the JCA Board's Bylaws Task Force worked diligently on the necessary legal language to establish bylaws for the new entity. Thanks to Sarah Allenby, Becca Asen, Chad Higgins, Leslie Kirby, Laura Kittle, and Tom Rosen; I'd especially like to thank Chris Stevenson at Drummond Woodsum for his many hours of generous work.
Next, the Transition Committee was instrumental in determining how to set up the entity before the JCA Board could even elect a Board for the Fund. Many thanks to: Laura Kittle, Leslie Kirby, Eric Kolben, Dave Levenson, Ben Marcus, Ellie Miller, Stuart Piltch and Tom Rosen. I especially wish to thank JCA Board President Sarah Allenby for being a support, sounding board, and connsumate organizer during the brief window after the J Board elected me to serve as Preident of the Fund's Board, making me the sole member of that Board and, as my husband lovingly put it, a “benevelont dictator.”
Now, in addition to myself, the inaugural board of the JCFM is: Molly Curren Rowles, Lena Geraghty, Laura Kittle, Ben Marcus, Ellie Miller and Tom Rosen.
Although this is my final Annual Meeting as a JCA Board member after fifteen years (incredible that I was in my 20s when I began!), it is my first as Board President of the JCFM. As such, I want to let you all in on a very important secret: it is now more important than ever to donate to the JCA's Annual Campaign! Your gifts continue the important work of the J's allocations which, as you saw in this year's Impact Report, supports a multitude of Jewish organizations locally and abroad. Our Hebrew Schools, film festival, cemeteries, Jewish day school and mikveh rely upon your generosity through the J's allocations; so do humanitarian, food security and elderly services in Israel and abroad that foster education, equity, community engagement and Jewish identity.
I am deeply grateful to the Oshers for this opportunity to carry on their legacy, to the JCA Board for entrusting me with this task, and to all of you, my community, for your support and generosity, L'dor Vador, from generation to generation.
