Birmingham was saddened Thursday by the passing of longtime Jewish community member Gail Scharff Bayer who died after a short illness. Gail, who was 60, will be remembered for her warmth, outgoing personality, concern and compassion for others, and creativity.

The funeral will be 1 pm Sunday at Temple Emanu-El, with burial at Elmwood. We extend our condolences to Gail's husband, Harry, a past president of The Birmingham Jewish Federation and The Foundation, and the entire Bayer family, especially her children, Molly and Gregory. Gail and Harry are pictured here with Molly and her husband, Adam Sirkus.

Hilary Gewant, this year's BJF Joanie Plous Bayer Young Leadership Award recipient, shared the following upon Gail's passing:

About a month ago, Harry took me to lunch to congratulate me on being this year's recipient of the Joanie Plous Bayer Young Leadership Award. The award is named for Harry and Gail's sister-in-law, Joanie, who passed away in 1985.

It was my first chance to get to know Harry and, through him, Gail, Joanie and the rest of the Bayer family. According to Harry, Gail and Joanie were best friends, business partners and kindred spirits. After our lunch, I took some time to think about all the wonderful family stories Harry had told me.

I was so very grateful to have learned more about these two kind, wonderful, extraordinary women and their unique relationship. Although I did not know Gail well, I do feel, as we all do, that I have lost a friend.

By Richard Friedman, Executive Director

Oftentimes, board meetings are like snapshots of an organization. They tell you a lot. I have found this to be the case over the years when it comes to The Birmingham Jewish Federation. Additionally, I have a unique vantage point -- sitting next to our President at the head of a long table, where I can see just about everyone's face and body language.

We had another one of our BJF board meetings this week. The room was again packed; nearly every seat was filled. People seemed to be paying attention, interested in the items being discussed, and grateful to be part of our deliberations. What makes me say this? Two things -- observing and a follow-up survey we sent to board members right after the meeting.

At the meeting, we heard board member Sheryl Kimerling report on her Federation-related trips to Greece, Israel, Chile and Denver; board member Drennen Williams report on his recent trip to Israel; and BJF Campaign Chair Dr. Dave Landy give a report on the 2012 BJF Campaign, including Operation Grassroots, an unprecedented effort to raise 1000 new gifts or increases of at least $100.

I also reported on our overall fundraising totals (annual campaign and other sources) for the year, which have now reached almost $3,000,000, and talked about my belief that we can attain $10,000,000 this year.

"VERY HONORED"

Great comments came in from the board members who responded to the post-meeting survey.

"The BJF is truly amazing. It is so impressive what is being accomplished," wrote one of our three Christian board members, a community leader with lots of experience in non-profit organizations. "I like being able to count on finishing in an hour. I am very honored to be on the board."

"I thought the meeting was most informative and productive," wrote another board member who is among The BJF's most generous donors. "I also love the fact that the meeting moves at a steady pace. Kudos to The BJF!"

One board member who answered the survey recently made a six figure endowment commitment to The BJF through "Our Next 100 Years," a historic Jewish community initiative. In my response back to her, I mentioned this wonderful endowment commitment and thanked her and her husband again. "Our pleasure! Wouldn't have done it if I didn't think the work the Federation does is top-notch!" she wrote back.

In addition to informational reports, two items -- one dealing with our allocations process and the other dealing with a BJF statement regarding Alabama's new immigration law -- required board action. As we always do, we tried to strike a balance between insuring that the meeting moved quickly, but also making sure that we allowed time for discussion when needed.

We asked board members if we achieved this goal. "Yes. I thought the issues that needed time for discussion got the appropriate time," responded one of our younger board members.

BASED ON A PROMISE

Credit for this upbeat environment goes to our BJF President, Jimmy Filler, and the board members themselves. Jimmy, now in his third year as President, has developed a meeting model based on a promise we make to our volunteers and donors: "We don't waste your time and we don't waste your money." The board members come on time, are focused, listen and participate in an atmosphere of mutual respect and goodwill, and help us get our business done.

It's not surprising. We, at The BJF, consider serving on our board to be a privilege. As I told our Executive Committee recently, we want the "best and the brightest" volunteers -- people who care deeply about The BJF, are willing to learn more, have impact and stature in the community, are willing to serve as ambassadors for The BJF, and who participate generously in our Annual Campaign and "Our Next 100 Years."

In turn, we challenge our volunteers to have high and ever-increasing expectations of our staff and organization overall. Everyday in so many ways we want to make The BJF even better -- extending our reach and expanding our impact -- and it is this wonderful synergy, between our board and our staff, that is making it happen.