By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer

Los Angeles-based Jewish activist Mandana Dayani’s keynote address at the Presidents Dinner on May 18 marks the official opening of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton’s 116th Annual Campaign.

Those attending the Presidents Dinner on May 18 will be asked to make their pledges to the 2025 Annual Campaign.

For more than a century, the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign has continually raised the funds to support social services and educational/cultural programs for Jews in the Dayton area, as well as the rescue and relief of Jews in need around the world.

Locally, the Annual Campaign supports Federation agencies and programs including Jewish Family Services, the Jewish Community Center and its preschool, the Jewish Community Relations Council, The Dayton Jewish Observer, programs for teens and seniors, initiatives to combat antisemitism, Holocaust educational programming, learning opportunities about Israel, local Innovation Grants, Western Galilee Partnership programs, Miami Valley Jewish Genealogy & History, and Hillel Academy Jewish day school.

Overseas beneficiaries of the Federation’s Annual Campaign include the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which provides aid to vulnerable Jews in 70 countries including Israel; and the Jewish Agency for Israel, which oversees the integration of Jews who make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel, and since Oct. 7, 2023, assists Israelis through its Fund for Victims of Terror.

The Federation’s Annual Campaign also supports ORT, which provides high-level science, technology, and Jewish education to more than 350,000 Jews a year in more than 40 countries.

Last year, the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton’s Annual Campaign raised $1.22 million.

The Presidents Dinner will be held at 5 p.m., Sunday, May 18 at the Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. Tickets are $125 and kashrut will be observed. RSVP by May 12 here.

To read the complete May 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.