Spotlight success reflects broad community support

By every measure, this year's Spotlight Annual Scholarship Event was the most successful of any annual Beth Tfiloh benefit in history -- or perhaps any fundraiser in the Baltimore area, for that matter.

With a top name like Oprah Winfrey and well-known honorees, like Rosalie and Richard Alter, the Spotlight committee knew it had the makings of a successful event. However, the unprecedented success of the evening was due to the tremendous commitment and tireless efforts of a passionate group of school parents, grandparents and loyal supporters, chaired by Cheri and David Hurwitz, and Marsha and Gene Modell, and sponsorship chairs, Carole and Hanan Sibel. "We are especially grateful to David Hurwitz whose commitment and enthusiasm fueled this event to record heights," said Mrs. Zipora Schorr.

Sponsorship solicitations, driven by invaluable support from our honorees as well as the event leadership, secured the generous support of numerous firms and individuals spanning the Baltimore business and professional community, and members of our own Beth Tfiloh family, and raised more than $1.4 million to benefit the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School Scholarship Fund, which provides tuition assistance for over 30% of our current student body.

Co-Chair Cheri Hurwitz described Ms. Winfrey as a "most gracious" guest speaker. WBAL reporter Deborah Weiner, called the evening a "mega fundraiser" and "the event of the decade." Ms. Winfrey's 50 minute presentation addressed such topics as the importance of education, philanthropy, faith and making an impact on the world.

This was the first time in recent history that Spotlight was held off-premise, creating a challenge for the Committee to bring the special feeling of Beth Tfiloh to the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The Committee used its creativity to convey the warmth, joy and sense of community that the school prides itself on. Guests entering the Meyerhoff lobby were greeted by visual displays of words and photographs, live student performances at the pre-event reception, video monitors with slide shows, and the entire audience viewed a school video prior to Oprah's entrance. But at the end of the day, with a sell-out crowd of over 2400, the Committee knew that the decision to move Spotlight to the Meyerhoff was a wise one, enabling us to sell more seats than ever before and maximize the potential for this once-in-a-lifetime fundraising event.

Special thanks for this phenomenal evening also goes to Honorary Chairs, John Paterakis and the Honorable Ben Cardin; the continued leadership and oversight of Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg and Mrs. Zipora Schorr; and our very capable Development Staff, including Senior Development Officer, Mandi Miller, and Development Associates, Barbara Marlin, assisted by support staff, Charlene Schimberg, Mona Kaufman and Michelle Ostroff.

People are already asking how we can hope to achieve anything close to the success of this event next year. We'll leave that challenge to our dynamic professional and lay leaders. But in the meantime we should all feel proud of a truly outstanding evening with the overflowing broad support of our local community enabling more of our children to benefit from an outstanding Beth Tfiloh education.