Other items in today’s column include:
*Other Jewish community coronavirus news
*Political bytes
SAN DIEGO –The Jewish Federation of San Diego County, the Jewish Community Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation have jointly created a new San Diego Jewish Community Covid-19 Emergency Fund “to support those who are most vulnerable and impacted primarily in San Diego’s Jewish community.”
Co-chairing the effort are Emily Einhorn, Leo Spiegel, and Brian Tauber.
Initial donations put more than $1.6 million into the fund, however “the need is immense and will continue to increase,” said Michael Jeser of the Jewish Federation; Beth Sirull of the Jewish Community Foundation, and Charlene Seidle of the Leichtag Foundation.
In an email to Jewish community members, Jeser promised, “We will regularly report to Fund donors on emerging needs and how dollars are being spent. The Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego holds the Fund with 100% of donations used to meet Covid-19 related needs. No administrative costs will be deducted.”
Jeser identified such current needs as:
–Relief for those who are out of work and those struggling to meet their basic needs.
–Support for isolated individuals, especially the most vulnerable, including the elderly, Holocaust survivors, those with disabilities, and others.
–Food and nutrition programs for those of all ages.
–Relief for Jewish organizations substantially dependent on lost tuition, membership, programmatic, or event income.
Donations to the San Diego Jewish Community Covid-19 Emergency Fund may be made via this link.
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Other Jewish community coronavirus news
*Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) said Democrats in the House of Representatives say an economic stimulus package during the coronavirus pandemic should include:
- Cash payments: at least $2,000/month for adults and $1,000 for each child to help support Americans during the crisis and boost the economy. Payments will not go to millionaires and billionaires.
- Eviction moratorium: suspend evictions and foreclosures so people have a safe place to quarantine during the crisis.
- Homeless assistance: provide $5 billion in emergency assistance for housing and health-related services for the vulnerable homeless population.
- Suspend commercial rent: suspend commercial rental payments to support small businesses and non-profits struggling to stay open.
- Grants for small businesses: at least $50 billion dollars in new grants for small businesses impacted by the loss of economic activity during crisis.
- Suspend credit payments: suspend consumer and business credit payments for mortgages, car notes, student loans, credit cards, small business loans, and personal loans.
- Suspend credit reporting: suspend negative consumer credit reporting during the pandemic.
Davis added that some relief already is on the way, following President Donald Trump’s signing of The Families First Coronavirus Response Act. That bill (HR 6201) included:
- Free testing: ensures free coronavirus testing for those who qualify under guidelines of symptoms and availability, including for the uninsured.
- Sick and family leave: provides two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of family and medical leave for eligible workers.
- Help for the unemployed: enhances Unemployment Insurance and supports small businesses by fully reimbursing them for providing leave.
- Food assistance: strengthens nutrition initiatives including SNAP, student meals, seniors’ meals and food banks.
Davis reported on Friday that as of Thursday, “confirmed cases of COVID-19 in San Diego county reached 105, including 89 cases among county residents. So far, there have been no deaths related to the coronavirus in San Diego county.” Additionally, she said, “There are a total of 1,006 positive cases of COVID-19 and 19 deaths related to the coronavirus in the state of California.”
*Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School reports: “What a fantastic group of educators we have! The transition to an online learning community was swift but students are learning and connecting everyday! We are so proud of our teachers and all the hard work they’ve put into supporting our students, our students for logging on daily and staying engaged, our parent body for supporting their students and administrators for their leadership.”
*Jeanne Shenkman, a resident at Seacrest Village Retirement Community, like the rest of us in under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order, but she’s delighted to tell us that “spring has sprung” and that plants are flowering on the grounds of the Jewish-community-run retirement community. And being a shutter-bug, she sent us a picture to prove it!
*Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society, reports: “We’re experiencing significant declines in the number of animals being adopted, and the new mandate for Californians to shelter in place will dramatically impact our ability to adopt animals into new homes. To make this more challenging, this is happening during the time of year when we see the sharpest increase in the number of companion and wild animals relying on us for help. We don’t know what will happen in the days and weeks to come — nobody does. But no matter what, one thing is certain: San Diego Humane Society is here for animals and the people who love them. As an open admissions shelter, we don’t turn animals away. While our community responds to COVID-19, we’re still taking in companion animals and injured and orphaned wildlife. We’re still caring for animals with serious medical needs and behavior challenges — animals who would have nowhere else to turn. And our Humane Law Enforcement team is still out in the field, responding to our community’s urgent calls for help.”
*Our co-publisher Nancy Harrison, an inveterate Costco shopper, has noticed some changes in procedures at the Santee outlet. On Friday, large boxes blocked the sidewalk to the left of the entrance, so that shoppers were required to form a long line to the right, which went around the building. With their carts, customers kept their social distance. Employees with loud speakers announced what items were out of stock. Employees directed customers to internal lines for such items as hand sanitizers, paper goods, and water bottles. Toilet paper and was out of stock. At checkout, shoppers were asked to leave their goods in the shopping carts and the checkers scaned the items from the cart, instead of the customers putting items on the conveyor belt. All employees wore gloves and some had the customers take the receipts from the top of the register, so the employees didn’t have to handle them. When customers departed the store, the person at the exit asked them to hold up their receipts rather than taking them from the customers and putting a big check mark on them. It was announced that henceforth on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. will be special shopping hours for seniors (over 60) and people with disabilities or medical issues. They may be accompanied by one companion.
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Political bytes
*With approximately 16,000 ballots still to be counted, San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry increased her lead Friday over Councilman Scott Sherman by 656 votes in the contest for second place and a spot in the November runoff for mayor of San Diego. Assemblyman Todd Gloria has a large first place lead. The current tally is Todd Gloria 145,102 votes; Bry 79,747, and Sherman 79,091.
*San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez, running in the 53rd Congressional District, comments: “We knew the the federal government wasn’t functioning well with so many Americans unable to afford suitable housing. We saw flaws in our system when we heard about impoverished children in some parts of our country drinking poisoned drinking water. And we knew the government wasn’t functioning well when millions of citizens live in fear of getting sick because they lack health care. If this crisis has made anything clear, it’s that a well-functioning government in Washington matters. Now more than ever, we need to fight with more urgency, more conviction, and more energy than ever before to correct course in this country.”
*Jews Choose Trump has issued a bumper sticker for the President’s campaign.
*Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Padilla, a former mayor who also chairs the state coastal commission, is being treated at UCSD Thornton Hospital’s ICU for Covid-19. Through his daughter, Ashleigh Padilla, he sent this message: “Everyone needs to take Covid-19 seriously. Please follow the advice of our public health professionals to reduce spread of the virus and take precautions to keep your families and our community safe.”
*Bernie Rhinerson, a member of the San Diego Community College Board of Trustees, messaged: “Bobbi and I are enjoying each day at home and our kids are safe in LA and DC. Like everyone we are praying for this to pass quickly. As you know, we have closed all our community colleges and moved classes over to online instruction. Our faculty and staff have been amazing working to convert more than 6,000 classes to online mode. Students are now on break but class work will resume next week for the remainder of the semester. Operations are only essential functions and things will change day by day. We will be moving our monthly Board meeting to Zoom in April.”
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com