SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND SECURE OVER $3.4 MILLION TO IMPROVE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FOR 42 AT RISK JEWISH SCHOOLS AND CONGREGATIONS
Schumer and Gillibrand Secured over 30% Of Total Funding For Organizations Based in New York Out of the Total $10 Million Granted to Awardees Across the Country
The Awardees Include 42 Jewish Educational Institutions and Congregations; The Money Will Help These At-Risk Nonprofits For Security Preparedness
Schumer, Gillibrand: These Schools and Congregations are Vital Parts of our Community – the Grant Money Will Go To a Good Cause
U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that 42 New York Jewish organizations, including schools and congregations, have received a combined total of $3,419,184 for the 2012 fiscal year as Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) Awardees. The program, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, awards federal funds to nonprofit organizations that are at a high risk of a national terrorist attack to encourage preparedness efforts.
“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program is essential to making sure that high-risk organizations such as Jewish schools and congregations are safe from terrorist attacks,” said Schumer. “It is particularly important for organizations in New York City, which has already survived an attack from anti-Semitic terrorists. The grant money will go a long way to ensure that these organizations are fully prepared for whatever may happen in the future.”
“New York’s religious institutions and schools are the backbone of our communities,” Senator Gillibrand said. “No New Yorker, or American, should ever have to live or worship in fear of being targeted because of who they are or what they believe. As we have seen, New York City’s places of faith, worship and community gatherings continue to be targeted by hatred. These homeland security dollars will help arm our non-profits with the resources they need to guard us from attacks and keep us safe.”
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) is run under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI). For the 2012 fiscal year, the UASI NSGP was budgeted $10 million. Only eligible nonprofit organizations, as described by the 501(c)(3) tax code of 1986, may apply for this grant. To be eligible, the nonprofit must be at high risk for an international terrorist attack and must be located in one of the designated urban areas throughout the country.
The 2012 NSGP is a vital part of FEMA’s implementation of the Presidential Policy Directive 8, which President Obama signed on March 30, 2011. The directive is meant to bolster the United States’ emergency preparedness to direct threats such as a terrorist attack using systematic methods such as funding preparedness programs at an organizational level throughout the country. The funds will go to at risk organizations throughout the country; in New York City 42 Jewish schools and congregations as well as one Roman Catholic Church were awarded funds under President Obama’s directive.
The 42 organizations that received funding from the New York City area are the Academy for Jewish Religion, Bais Ruchel Dsatmar, Inc., Bay Terrace Jewish Center, Be’er HaGolah Institutes, Beth Rachel School for Girls, Bnos Yakov Educational Center, Chabad Lubavitch of Kensington, Chabad of Northeastern Queens Inc., Chabad of the Medical Communities Inc., Congregation Ahavas Shulem D’nadverna DBA Tiferes Bnos, Congregation Beth Elohim, Congregation Bnai Yosef, Congregation Merkaz Shurei Torah, Congregation Or Zarua, Congregatoin Shaari Tefiloh of Kings Highway, Congregation YGS, Forest Hills Jewish Center, Gan Yisroel, Good Shephard Roman Catholic Church, Jewish Foundation School of Staten Island, Jewish Institute of Queens, Khal Adas Krasna, Long Island Hebrew Academy, Madison Jewish Center, Mesivta of Long Beach, Mikvah Israel of Flatbush, Park East Synagogue, Rabbinical Seminary of America, Ramaz School, Solomon Schechter Day School of Nassau County, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, Temple Gates of Prayer DBA Congregation Shaarai Tefilla, Temple Israel of New Rochelle, Torah Academy for Girls, Yeshiva Imrei Phi, Yeshiva Mesivta Vayoel Moshe, Yeshiva of Brooklyn, Yeshiva Ohel Moshe, Yeshiva Tifereth Bunim, Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, Yeshiva University, and Young Israel of Holliswood.