Your Generosity Helped Your Neighbors!
High Holiday Food Drive Concludes With Incredible Donations
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the synagogues and community partners who donated to the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry’s High Holiday Food Drives. Thanks to your generosity, we received over 2,600 pounds of food and essential items to support our local community!
We are also incredibly grateful to our volunteers, who brought donations from each collection site to the Pantry.
Together, our donors, volunteers, and community partners help us feed our neighbors.
Help Provide Stability and Dignity to our Neighbors in Need
Starting October 1, 2026, changes to Medicaid eligibility have restricted access to health coverage for many immigrants, adding to the challenges our immigrant neighbors face as the cost of living continues to rise.
As families are forced to choose between out-of-pocket medical expenses, groceries, or rent, more people than ever are turning to the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry for support. For over 25 years, the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry has been a steady resource for those in a crisis thanks to generous donations from our community.
Whether you volunteer your time, donate food or hygiene products, or make a financial contribution, your gift will provide food, stability, and dignity to our neighbors in need.
Staff and Volunteer Spotlights
Sarah Hough Wins Prestigious Legal Award
We are thrilled to share that Sarah Hough, JFCS’s Director of Immigration Legal Services, received the 2026 Allegheny County Bar Association’s Edward G. O’Connor Award. This honor recognizes Sarah’s exceptional commitment to advocating for some of our community’s most vulnerable members, particularly during a time of uncertainty and rapid change.
Driven by an enduring belief in justice, Sarah leads with compassion, courage, and grace, inspiring her team while fiercely advocating for her clients. Among the many people Sarah and her team serve are unaccompanied children, whom they stand beside so that no child has to face the immigration system alone. This work requires not only legal expertise, but also deep humanity and care.
Sarah embodies JFCS’s values in everything she does, and we are incredibly proud of her and grateful for her leadership and service.
Dana Gold Wins AJAPO Above and Beyond Award
Congratulations to our Chief Operating Officer, Dana Gold, on receiving Acculturation for Justice, Access and Peace Outreach’s (AJAPO) Above and Beyond Award!
AJAPO collaborates with JFCS to empower our immigrant and refugee neighbors to self-sufficiency by providing essential support. This award recognizes Dana’s work advocating for and uplifting Pittsburgh’s immigrant and refugee communities.
From connecting community organizations and standing up when she sees injustice to creating seats at the table for everyone, Dana champions the right to belong for all our neighbors.
Volunteer Spotlight: Gary Gaal
With over 500 hours of service, Gary Gaal has made an incredible impact at the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, volunteering multiple times a week and stepping in when sudden needs arose. Gary’s kindness and generosity have made a meaningful difference not only on the Pantry’s operations, but also in fostering a warm and welcoming place for all. Earlier this month, Gary volunteered his last shift at the pantry before moving out of state. Thank you, Gary, for your compassion and dedication! You will be missed!
Looking Back on Welcoming Week
This Welcoming Week, we had a wonderful time celebrating communities and cultures from around the world! From September 10-19, JFCS team members led sessions where we had the opportunity to learn from one another. Together, we explored the history and culture of Haiti and Syria, learned a lullaby in Haitian Creole, and enjoyed a screening of Becoming Iphigenia, a powerful documentary directed by our colleague Reem.
To culminate the week, JFCS held a potluck, which was a beautiful celebration across cultures. With food representing Haitian, Costa Rican, Ashkenazi Jewish, Venezuelan, Italian, and Irish traditions, it was a wonderful way to round out the week and share our connections and cultural backgrounds with one another.
As we reflect on this year’s Welcoming Week, we’re reminded once more of the important role each of us plays in our shared community. When we take the time to listen to each other’s experiences, learn about our cultures, and celebrate our differences, we can more easily come together to ensure that no one has to face life’s challenges alone. Thank you to all who joined us for Welcoming Week!
Upcoming Engagement Opportunities
Explore Your Future at the Fall Job Fair
Join us for our in-person Fall Job Fair at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Oakland! Discover new career paths, meet local employers looking to hire, and build connections that can move your job search forward. You’ll have the opportunity to network with representatives from higher education, finance, public service, and other employers, along with community resource organizations that can provide beneficial support during the job search.
When: Friday, October 23, 11am – 2pm
Where: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Main) | 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
This event is free and open to the public! Registration is recommended, but walk-ins are welcome. Register today and take the next step in your career!
10/27 Commemoration: Volunteer Opportunity
Please join JFCS and the 10.27 Healing Partnership on October 25th from 10am-11:30am to create hygiene kits and no-sew blankets for JFCS clients. Through this commemorative day of service, we will honor the eleven people who were killed in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on October 27, 2018. Together, we will show that love and kindness are stronger than hate.
If you are able, participants are encouraged to consider collecting hygiene products, scissors, and fleece fabric to bring to aid in this project.
Register for this all-ages program using the button below.
Preventing Elder Abuse in our Community
With the shared goal of promoting independence, dignity, and safety for older adults, AgeWell Pittsburgh, the 20+ year collaboration between the JAA, JCC, and JFCS, is working with Sacred Spaces on a Coordinated Community Response for Elder Abuse in the Jewish community.
Elder abuse is an intentional or negligent act by a trusted person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to an older adult. This can include physical abuse, mental abuse, financial abuse, and neglect.
To build an effective community response, we want to hear directly from you. Your input will help us understand what the community knows or needs to know about our ability to recognize, prevent, and respond to elder abuse and neglect.
If you are a community member, a Jewish communal professional, a volunteer or lay leader in the community, or someone who works with Jewish community members in the region – we ask you to please to take 5 minutes to complete this voluntary survey. Your feedback will help us build a Coordinated Community Response to prevent and address elder abuse in our Jewish community.
Get the support you need today
JFCS is here to support you through life’s changes and challenges. Whether you’re interested in caregiver support, grief support, career support, or help with other life challenges, we’re here for you. Head to our website to get the help you need, today.