New Orleans, La - February 2022 - Arnie Fielkow, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans,  has spent much of his life in service. Now, the former New Orleans City Council President is renewing his call to others to step up and make a difference in the community.

“First of all, get involved,” Fielkow said. “The Jewish Federation is, I think, one of the most important organizations in all of our community because of what we do, how we help, and what we support.”

Federation staff is ready and able to help any newcomers find the best fit for them when it comes to getting involved, Fielkow said..

“We have plenty of work to do,” he said. “There’s great volunteer opportunities, there’s other ways to support the work, so if anyone is interested and wants to participate, just reach out to us.”

The best way for new and veteran members of the community to help is to engage directly with the annual campaign, Fielkow said.

“We need our community to support Federation financially,” he said. “We run a tremendous annual campaign, and we have been doing that now for 107 years.”

The programs funded through the campaign reach a broad spectrum of people in the New Orleans area, both within the Jewish community and outside of it. At times like this, Fielkow said, it’s more important than ever to build bridges across community lines and fight back against division and hate.

“We’re working very hard to bring our communities together to make sure that folks on every side understand we have much more commonality than difference,” he said. “In today’s world, it’s really important that the Jewish community, the African-American community, Latino community, LGBTQ - that we stand shoulder to shoulder with each other and fight against hate and bigotry and discrimination.”

Despite the hard work and enormous challenges, Fielkow said he has cherished every second of his time leading the Federation.

“I just want to say to the community, both Jewish and non-Jewish, what an honor and a privilege it is to head the Jewish Federation these past five years,” Fielkow said. “It has been one of the thrills of my life, and the honors of my life, to be able to work hand in hand with so many great leaders, both on staff and as lay leadership around our community. We are very fortunate in New Orleans to have an engaged, interactive, and successful community. Much of what New Orleans succeeds with is contributed to by the Jewish community in general, and I’m very honored to be able to have a small hand in leading this organization as its CEO.” 

-- By Stephen Maloney, StorySMART