Moriah bursaries boost

ASSISTANT Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was the guest of honour at the annual Moriah Foundation members’ cocktail party last Thursday, which saw the launch of a new endowment fund to support bursaries for the community’s most needy families.

The Romy Birnbaum Memorial Bursary Endowment Fund, endowed through a gift of $1 million from Bev and Phil Birnbaum, will initially support two students from year K to 12, then increase bursaries based on ongoing donations and financial returns.

Foundation president Judy Lowy said, “It is critical that we grow this endowment fund, and we have already begun to do so. Other donors may contribute to the fund and, where the gift is able to sustain a bursary, elect to have that bursary named according to their wishes.”

The new fund is in addition to other major donors who are now supporting the education of 20 children at Moriah through the foundation’s Bursary Program. Lowy said that, through the community’s generosity, funds were available to award 10 bursaries for 2016, and praised the support of Mervyn and Lorraine Basserabie who will fund three of those bursaries.

Speaking at the event, Frydenberg reflected on the parallels between his journey to Poland earlier this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and Moriah’s Israel Study Tour (IST) program.

Lowy said making the year 10 program affordable to all families is the foundation’s other main focus. “Only a few years ago, just 21 students participated in IST. This year, we will be sending 100 students to Israel and Poland,” she said.

“The foundation has raised $230,000 and this was supplemented by a massive injection from the Education Heritage Foundation of $500,000, making it affordable for the middle-income families who couldn’t or wouldn’t ordinarily apply for fee relief, as well as offering those who need up to 100 per cent subsidies.”

EVAN ZLATKIS

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