ORT America Donor Honors
Israel’s 60^th With $5 Million Donation

ORT America member Betty Schoenbaum decided to give something special to the Jewish State that it will not outgrow in the next 60 years.

Betty Schoenbaum Shoney's Heiress

The heiress to the Shoney’s restaurant and motel chain has given $5 million to ORT America in support of World ORT programs in Israel. One of the largest single donations ever received, the gift will develop the center of the seaside town of Kiryat Yam into a multi-purpose science, education, culture and sports campus that is a model for the State of Israel. The donation was made by the Schoenbaum Family Foundation.

The glittering, high-tech educational development heralds a revitalization for Kiryat Yam, a largely blue-collar community of 45,000 where the average income is about 25 percent lower than the national average and has become home to large concentrations of Russian and Ethiopian immigrants.

World ORT Director General Robert Singer Thanks Betty Schoenbaum Click here to view

Her investment in Kiryat Yam’s future will, together with funds from ORT America and the local municipality, transform three acres of publicly owned land into a beautiful and practical communal resource featuring a sports center, an open air science park, and a social, educational and cultural center for Ethiopian Jewry. There will also be a full refurbishment of the 40-year-old Rodman High School, the construction of covered walkways connecting the whole complex and the creation of the adjacent D. Dan and Betty Kahn Science Center.

The campus is at the heart of Science City, a $20 million mega-project to revitalize Kiryat Yam’s educational and cultural system launched last year as part of World ORT’s Science Journey program to raise the level of science and technology education in schools across Israel including Rodman.

According to Mrs. Schoenbaum, whose philanthropy has included projects in the land of Israel since 1940, “When I reached 90 years of age, I decided that most of my big giving will be to Israel because if Jews don’t give to Israel, who will?  I think it’s terrible that fewer Jews are giving to Israel now."

A major donor and longtime member of the Sarasota Chapter, Mrs. Schoenbaum was a founder of ORT Braude College, a major combined fundraising effort of American ORT and Women’s American ORT, the predecessor organizations of ORT America.   

Mrs. Schoenbaum is a former ballet dancer and her late husband Alex was an All-American football player, so she recognizes the importance of having a strong cultural and sporting component in the Kiryat Yam project.

“There are cultural differences between the Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, but if they go to school together, if they play sports together, and mix culturally then they’ll see that we’re all the same and there will be a wonderful blending,” she says.

“I’m very upset about the situation of the Ethiopians in Israel,” she said. “I feel there’s so much potential there that could be tapped if we gave them the chance to get a better education.”

“The joy of living is the joy of giving,” she says. “Don’t wait until you die to give, give while you’re alive so you can see the good you do. Like I say, there are no luggage racks on the hearse.”

Mrs. Schoenbaum is grateful to The Schoenbaum Family Foundation and to her four children for encouraging her to support a major project in Israel and to ORT America and World ORT for providing the right project. The Schoenbaum Family Foundation consists of Betty Schoenbaum, President; Raymond Schoenbaum of Atlanta, GA; Jeffry Schoenbaum of Palm Harbor, FL; Joann Miller of Oldsmar, FL; and Emily Schoenbaum of Washington, D.C.

“What’s beautiful about ORT is what they have done and how they have put the package together and the work they have done; it’s been so smooth. I’m not someone who gives money and says goodbye, I become involved in what I support and World ORT is a magnificent organization.” 

“We are thrilled with Mrs. Schoenbaum’s generous gift, which can serve as a model for other communities in Israel using science and technology education to help underprivileged sectors of the population climb the career ladder,” said ORT America President Doreen N. Hermelin. “Her extraordinary contribution will inspire and empower generations of young people and the broader Kiryat Yam community.”