Metro Briefs July 3

The Senator John Heinz History Center, in preparation for an upcoming World War II exhibit opening in the spring of 2015, is seeking artifacts from the Jewish Welfare Board’s “Y Canteen” that operated at the Young Men’s and Women’s Hebrew Association building on Bellefield Avenue in Oakland. In a photo from 1943, young women volunteers wore aprons marked J.W.B.Y Canteen.

Anyone with one of these aprons, or a similarly marked item from the canteen, is asked to contact Susan Melnick, archivist, Rauh Jewish Archives at SMMelnick@heinzhistorycenter.org or 412-454-6406 or Leslie Przybylek, curator of history at laprzybylek@heinzhistortcenter.org or 412-454-6427.

Emily Richman, assistant campaign director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, has been named the recipient of the 2014 Ira and Nanette Gordon Community Professional Achievement Award.

The award, established in 2000, is given annually to a professional who has demonstrated outstanding service to the Federation. The award recipient must, as a recognized role model, inspire service on behalf of the Jewish community.

Richman’s role at the Federation involves overseeing fundraising, marketing and programming for the organization’s annual campaign, which raises more than $13 million. She serves as lead staff for the Pacesetters Division (for donors giving $1,000 to $9,999 annually) and the Jewish Professionals Network. She supervises operations for the Centennial Fund for a Jewish Future, part of the Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation.

Richman began her Federation career in 2003 as manager of Shalom Pittsburgh.

Richman has a bachelor’s degree in media communications from the University of Pittsburgh and a certificate in nonprofit professional development from The Frieda G. Shapira Center for Learning at the Community College of Allegheny County. She is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Federation’s Wechsler Leadership Development Institute.

A Pittsburgh native, Richman lives in Squirrel Hill with her husband, Rob, and their daughter, Addison.

The Squirrel Hill Historical Society will hold its next free meeting on Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer at 5700 Forbes Ave.

David Grinnell, reference and access archivist at the University Library System, University of Pittsburgh, will speak on the topic “In Search of Pittsburgh’s Mr. Selfridge: Unknown Stories from Pittsburgh’s Department Stores.”

Call 412-417-3707 or visit squirrelhillhistory.org for more information.

Shaare Torah Congregation will hold its summer blood drive on Sunday, July 13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit centralbloodbank.org and use group code G0020025 or contact Linda Pasternak at 412-421-8855 or shaaretora@aol.com to schedule and appointment. Walk-ins are also welcome.

New Light Congregation will hold two events in July that are open to the community.

The Men’s Club will sponsor a trip to Tanger Outlets/The Meadows on Sunday, July 20. The charge is $28 per person. The choice in destination must be made when making the reservation. Those going to The Meadows will receive $15 in free play plus $5 for food. The bus leaves New Light Congregation at 10 a.m. and will leave the Meadows at 5 p.m.

Contact Sid Shapiro 412-421-4635 to make reservations.

On Monday, July 21 at 7:15 p.m. New Light Congregation will welcome Moshe Baran as the speaker in The Book That Changed My Life series.

Baran’s life in the Russian and Partisan armies of Europe of World War II gave him a different perspective on Jewish survival and man’s inhumanity to man, and his is not a typical Holocaust survivor tale.

Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.

“More Than Just Learning” hosts Shirley and Morris Shratter will interview Carnegie Mellon University professor Casey Donlevy on homeland and computer security. The program airs every Tuesday in July at 8 p.m. on PCTV Comcast Channel 21 and Verizon 47 in Pittsburgh only.

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s redesigned website at jhf.org provides improved search, more intuitive navigation and expanded and deeper content.

JHF is the parent organization to operating arms the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative and Health Careers Futures. Previously, website visitors had to click through to these sites to read about projects and programs. With the new design, visitors can stay on the JHF website, with links to content on the other sites for those desiring more information.

The site also integrates a Google search feature that enables visitors to search on key words and access all related information, including site pages, readmissions briefs, JHF and PRHI publications that explore issues central to the advancement of health care quality and value and other publications, news releases and media coverage.