The Federation blog is meant to inspire our members to learn more, do more, and be more. We try to be more by providing another place for our members to share knowledge and build community. We do this by sharing our simchas, our favorite books and jokes, items of interest in the news, fun videos, and member happenings.
A community shares its celebrations and achievements as well as circling the wagons to be present for its losses.  Fortunately, we have been blessed with many recent celebrations that have been very inspiring. Recently, Don Devorris was honored for by Penn State University with the distinguished alumni award, their highest honor. Lynn Kaplan recently shared her story of family. Our member happenings page honors our recent graduates. Henry Weinberg led the Federation and our congregations in our annual service to honor our veteran’s service to our country at our Jewish cemeteries. Illissa Zimmerman was our keynote speaker and she truly inspired.
At our recent annual Federation meeting we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Aryev and Belenitsky families joining our community. We watched video of their arrival at Blair County Airport, and relived their journey to start a new life in a new country. Their determination to find a better life in a new country took great courage. The effort of our Jewish community to make our new Americans welcome and successful was also a major undertaking. Phyllis Port, Judi Sue Meisner and Bill Wallen shared the actions that brought these two families to Altoona and recognized the volunteers that made it happen.
There is truly no shortage of inspiration in our Jewish community. As always, we hope that our Federation members enjoy our website, continue to find inspiration, and feel motivated to do more and be more.