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Maitland Jewish
Community Campus debt
You did it!
- Our Goal: $56,500 153%
A debt-free campus
is within our reach
By Keith Dvorchik
JFGO Executive Director
In the book of Ecclesiastes there is the well-known passage, “ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up …”
Our Greater Orlando Jewish community is entering one of those life-changing times.
For the past 33 years, the Jewish Community Campus in Maitland has been hamstrung financially after taking on a mortgage – a debt that was necessary to enable the campus to grow along with the community’s needs. This carried with it a burden that has stifled growth and forced us to scale back our ambitions, tying up resources that otherwise could be unleashed into our community
Nearly three years ago, the Federation launched Campus 2020, a fundraising campaign that aimed to eliminate the debt entirely by Dec. 31, 2019, so that we could enter 2020 debt-free and fully focused on using our resources to serve the community. We are now three months into this transformative year, and with your help, a debt-free campus could happen even sooner than we anticipated!
By every measure, the elimination of this debt will be a game-changer for our community, resulting in approximately $400,000 in annual combined savings for the Federation, The Roth Family JCC and Jewish Academy of Orlando.
The campus debt will be eliminated after:
- The anticipated upcoming sale of the former JAO building, constructed in 2003; and
- A final 24-hour push to close out the Campus 2020 campaign. And that’s where you come in.
At 6 p.m. Monday, March 25, we launched Focus on the Future, a 24-hour campaign to finalize the elimination of the debt. During this final debt-retirement push, The Harris Rosen Foundation will match ALL gifts, dollar for dollar! This means that your gift will have twice the impact and will be doubled by The Harris Rosen Foundation.
We thank each of you in advance, and on behalf of the community, we thank The Harris Rosen Foundation for its generosity to enable our campus to be debt-free for the first time since 1986!
Thank you,
Keith Dvorchik
Double Your Donation!
Thanks to the generosity of The Harris Rosen Foundation, all gifts made to this 24-hour campaign will be doubled by a matching grant! That means that we only need to raise $56,500 to eliminate our total debt of $113,000!
What a great way to maximize the impact of your investment in the Greater Orlando Jewish community!
This special 24-hour campaign ends:
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Campus debt Q&A
Q: How much is the debt?
A: The principal balances of the two loans that comprise the debt stood at $3,692,500 (3.75% interest) and $1,068,000 (2.45% interest), for a total of $4,760,500 as of December 31, 2015, just before the launch of the Campus 2020 Debt Retirement Campaign. Thanks to money already raised through Campus 2020, as well as regular loan payments made by the Federation, the debt currently stands at $113,000. This number is based upon expected proceeds from the anticipated sale of the former Jewish Academy of Orlando expansion building on campus.
Q: If this campaign is a success and the debt is retired, what assurances can you make that new debt will not be incurred?
A: As a condition of accepting certain matching grants for the debt retirement campaign, JFGO has committed in writing that it will not borrow money for any capital improvements for the 10 years following retirement of the debt.
Q: Where did the debt come from?
A: As our community grew in the 1970s and ’80s, the demand for the programs and services offered on campus grew as well. The campus underwent a major expansion from 2002 to 2005, with construction of a new building for the Jewish Academy of Orlando (JAO) as well as renovations to Jewish Community Center (JCC) facilities such as the senior lounge and auditorium. Construction costs totaled $12.3 million. Existing mortgages and associated expenses, such as loan fees, interest and carrying costs on bonds, brought the total expansion cost to $13.86 million.
Q: Didn’t the Capital Campaign cover the cost of expansion?
A: Not fully. Initial funding of the expansion resulted in a shortfall of $205,000, largely due to construction cost overruns. This amount was covered by JFGO. The capital campaign brought in pledges totaling $9.29 million vs. a total project cost of $13.86 million, a difference of $4.57 million. To make up that difference, campus agencies agreed to take on additional finance obligations through 2028. Finally, of the $9.29 million in capital campaign pledges, only $7.26 million was collected, a shortfall of $2.03 million.
TODAY: Living with the debt
Retiring the Maitland Jewish Community Campus debt early – by 2020 – will result in annual savings of $381,400 to the Jewish community.
This annual debt obligation consumes financial resources that could otherwise be invested in programs and services that directly benefit Jews in Greater Orlando.
How the debt stifles growth
Our campus suffers
Servicing the debt consumes financial resources that could be used to pay for needed upgrades to modernize our facilities. Currently, our reserve funds are stretched as the physical property deteriorates.
Our community suffers
The cost of carrying the debt limits the resources that can be released into the community in the form of grants and other allocations that address the critical needs of all our constituents.
Innovation is hindered
Central Florida is a thriving, growing region. JFGO, The Roth Family JCC and the JAO must grow along with it or risk falling short of fulfilling our respective missions. Unfortunately, budgetary constraints brought on by the debt have kept us in a mode of maintaining the status quo rather than creating new engagement opportunities.
Resources are stretched
The JFGO, The Roth Family JCC and the JAO must devote valuable staff hours each year for fundraising just to maintain existing programs and services, often at the cost of forgoing potential outreach efforts to underserved members of our community.
2020: A debt-free campus!
A campus that is set free from debt is a campus that can once again grow and thrive as a hub of Jewish life for Greater Orlando. Eliminating the debt will redeploy much-needed funds into our Jewish community. Indeed, the benefits of debt retirement will have a positive ripple effect beyond the Maitland Jewish Community Campus.
A debt-free campus means:
Investing in our community
JFGO allocations such as collaborative grants represent a valuable investment in the people of the Greater Orlando Jewish community. Retiring the debt would immediately free up funds for grants and allocations.
Expanding our reach
A debt-free Federation will be positioned to provide assistance and meaningful programming for Baby Boomers, the elderly and other important but currently underserved constituents.
Refocusing our mission
Retiring the debt will allow all of our campus agencies to fully dedicate themselves to their missions, rather than devoting resources to capital campaigns and debt payments. It is central to JFGO’s mission that the money we spend directly benefits our constituents and that our donors’ contributions do as much good as possible for the greatest number of people.
Revitalizing our community
The availability of the funds currently consumed by servicing the debt will be a game changer for our community. As we reclaim the time and resources now devoted to shoring up stressed finances, volunteers and staff will be freed up to serve, create and innovate with new programming and services.
407-645-5933 ext. 236
Jewish Federation offices
851 N. Maitland Ave.
Maitland, FL 32751
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Let us know how we can help you!