As Manager of the Young Adult Division (YAD) at JEWISHcolorado, Katherine Podolak can tell you down to the dollar what different YAD programs cost. One YAD ambassador gathering? That will cost $75. One Shabbat across Colorado dinner will run $100.
As Podolak likes to say, “We try to do a lot with a little.”
That’s why, when an extra $3,300 fell out of the sky and into her budget in mid-December, she was delighted.
“It’s amazing,” Podolak said the day after receiving the news. “For us, this is a lot of money, but it’s not just the money. It means we are on the radar as a program that people care about because we are important to Colorado and to the Jewish community, and people want to support what we are doing.”
Podolak and JEWISHcolorado have “100+ Jews Who Care” to thank for the windfall grant.
Founded in 2020 by Jeff Robbins and David Frieder, 100+ Jews Who Care is a Colorado-based “giving circle,” a concept that combines philanthropy with democracy and brings grants and joy to organizations that help people in need.
In mid-2020, in the first quarter of its existence, 100+ Jews Who Care gave away $4,600 to the Jewish Family Service Weinberg Food Pantry. Today, with 245 participants, they gave away $106,000 in 2024, all thanks to a circle that started small and continues to grow through the power of kesher—connections—that are both Jewish and non-Jewish.
‘We actually found 44’
It was May of 2020, and the country was deeply mired in pandemic restrictions, suffering, and loss. Through a connection with Colorado State Senator Chris Kolker, Robbins and Frieder heard about “100+ giving circles.” To Robbins, who describes himself as “a bit of a philanthropist,” the concept seemed both simple and effective. At least 100 people give $100 per quarter to be part of a giving circle through the Grapevine platform. Four times a year, the donors nominate and select at least one local nonprofit to receive their donated funds which are tax deductible.
Within a month, Robbins and Frieder put together a steering committee for 100+ Jews Who Care. They researched six of the more than 800 “100+ Who Care” groups across the country to establish a model for 100+ Jews Who Care. At a steering committee meeting, there was debate about whether they should only give to Jewish organizations.
“I remember that David Frieder said to the group, ‘Last time I looked, tikkun olam means heal the world, not heal the Jewish world,’” Robbins recalls. “We have always given to both Jewish and non-Jewish nonprofits. David and I talked about it, and wondered if we could find eight more people to join us so that we could give $1,000 to a local charity. We could not find eight—we actually found 44.”
While the group originated during the pandemic, that was not Robbins’ sole motivation for starting it.
“We were concerned about people who were suffering—period,” he says. “The pandemic was just one more thing that impeded people’s ability to care for themselves.”
‘We could hit a million dollars’
Through the end of 2024, 100+ Jews Who Care gave grants totaling more than $420,000 since May 2020. Interestingly, the grants have gone by participant vote equally to Jewish and non-Jewish organizations. In the fourth quarter of 2024, grants went to ADL—Words to Action, Sungate Kids, Ekar Farm, Purple Door Coffee, and JEWIShcolorado—YAD.
“At the rate we are going, in five to six years, we could hit a million dollars back into the community,” Robbins says. “People sometimes think that adding small numbers will only result in a small number, but a lot of small numbers can make big numbers through the power of the collective where everyone has a voice.”
Robbins says that one of the many joys of working with others to nominate grant recipients is the discovery of many nonprofits that might not ordinarily receive a lot of public attention. He remembers a call he made in December 2020 to award a grant to the Parker Task Force for Human Services. They work with remote families in Parker, Franktown, and Elizabeth. A donor had nominated the nonprofit after seeing their flyer in a King Soopers.
“We called the executive director, Steve Budnack, who is also a founder, to tell him we were awarding the organization $13,700,” Robbins recalls. “He said, ‘Stop, why in the world are you calling me? We are in the middle of nowhere, working with rural people who don’t have jobs, need medical help, or can’t pay rent. How do you even know about us?’ The people on the call started crying because this man was so astonished that a Jewish group was giving his organization this large grant.”
Robbins believes that 100+ Jews Who Care may be the only 100+ group in the country that is entirely digital. People join, donate, nominate, vote, and meet on Zoom, plus they get together in person twice a year to socialize. More than four years after Robbins and Frieder started the group, it continues to grow thanks, in large part, to its tikkun olam and tzedakah thrusts.
“We have been amazed at how this caught on,” says Robbins. “G-d has blessed many of us with the ability to take care of ourselves, and if you are fortunate, you can help take care of others. People say to me, ‘Jeff, is this a foundation? A charity? A 501c3?,’ and I say, ‘No, it’s not any of those. It’s a group of donors who have organized themselves to help people with needs.’ We keep it local, and in doing that, people can see and feel where their money is going. This is Judaism at its finest.”
Anyone who wants to join 100+ Jews Who Care can contact Jeff Robbins by email or learn more at https://100plusjwc.com/.