The Jewish Federations of North America has announced the five finalists for its 2010 Jewish Community Heroes contest.
The contest solicited from the public nominations of Jews engaged in interesting Jewish projects and allowed their fans to vote for the nominees via Facebook. A panel of judges chose five finalists from the top 20 vote getters and will select a winner in time for the JFNA’s General Assembly to be held in New Orleans starting Nov. 7.
The winner will receive $25,000 for his project.
This years finalists are: Dmitriy Salita, Jay Feinberg, Mordechai Tokarsky, Stephen Kutner and Zvi Gluck.
Salita, a Russian born boxing champion, has founded the Dmitriy Salita Youth Center to help bring the community together and promote Jewish learning.
Feinberg is working to grow and diversify the donor base of the bone marrow registry after he himself had trouble finding a match when he was in need.
Tokarsky is educating young Russian Jewish immigrants about their common history and shared culture after he himself became one of the first Russian-American Jews to receive rabbinic ordination after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Kutner founded Jewish Healthcare International, a group that sends healthcare professionals around the world to meet the needs of communities in crisis.
Gluck is a one-man operation devoted to promoting kindness and helping those who have suffered unjustly.
For more information, visit http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/
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