
By Charlene Riegger
Director of Marketing
Can you make someone guess the word “Israel” without saying Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, or homeland? Chelsea Busch did! She and Ilene Ringold were the actors for their respective teams in the Taboo game on December 17 at the Jewish Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy Chanukah party at Jay’s Local in Allentown.
The evening began with Laurie Wax, Women’s Philanthropy president, presenting Busch with her Pomegranate pin after Federation president Jeri Zimmerman gave a lovely speech about hoping to pass her Lion of Judah pin to Busch, her daughter. (The pins represent different levels of giving to the Federation). Busch is also a member of the Federation’s Maimonides Society of healthcare professionals.
The Chanukah party cochairs, Amy Oselkin, Tracy Sussman, and Kimberly Valuntas, had asked the women to make a Chanukah donation of toys to FamilyMatters, a support network of Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options (JAFCO) that operates in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Robin Raskin of FamilyMatters gave a moving presentation highlighting the efforts of the organization by showing the impact on a family whose son has autism and is nonverbal. She expressed gratitude to the Federation women for making Chanukah brighter for the children in their care. FamilyMatters had to add items to the event’s Amazon wish list for toy donations after the women purchased everything on the original list!
After the presentation, the women played the game Taboo with a Jewish theme. Much to the delight of everyone, all the words were guessed and the game ended in a tie. The evening ended with the women schmoozing while enjoying sufganiyot (jelly donuts) and other desserts.