Chairman's Letter

“Every organization, and especially every foundation, is built on relationships that last. Our theme this year is “The Legacy Continues…building relationships through service.” This theme has a wonderful ambiguity regarding the relationships it encompasses. It includes those between grantees and the people that they touch through their work, as well as the relationships between the Foundation and the organizations and people that are doing the work on the ground.

“The Rapoport Foundation has built up relationships with organizations and institutions in Waco, Jerusalem, Austin, Williamsburg, Washington DC,and across the country. These relationships have come about through the common concerns of the Foundation and these groups; and they have led to many conversations about how to deal with problems affecting those with the fewest resources. Such conversations have served to inform and enhance the Foundation’s understanding of many issues and allowed us to refine our approach to more effectively approach these issues. At the same time we hope they have helped the grantees to work more effectively towards shared goals.

“Often annual reports are brag sheets about the wonderful things that the Foundation has done; and, we take great pride in our ability to help. But it is the grantees that deserve most of the credit for creating the vehicles through which money can be effectively utilized. We have always looked upon grant recipients as part of a web of relationships that form around solving important social problems. This has never been truer than it is with national economic conditions. Whether or not we are funding organizations in a given year, our interest in the work of these institutions is ongoing, just as our interest in dealing with important social problems is ongoing. And, thankfully, the web of relationships around the problems we all care about has grown and grown.

“As we continue into another year and soon into another decade, it is our hope that the relationships we have formed and helped to facilitate will serve to ameliorate the lives of people who have the least.

Ronald Rapoport
Chairman