On Thursday, June 23, 2011, “An Evening with Jewish Heritage Programs” was held at Hall of Flags in Houston Hall on the University of Pennsylvania campus honoring Jewish Heritage Programs (JHP) Mentor of the Year: David Adelman, President & CEO of Campus Apartments; Jewish Business Network (JBN) Leadership Honoree: Marc Pruzan, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Firstrust Bank; and JHP Young Professional Network Honoree: Scott Solomon of The Montgomery Benefits Group.
The event welcomed hundreds of attendees who took part in the live jazz music, sushi and carving stations, dessert, scotch & beer tastings, photo booth and raffle prizes, as well as the live and silent auction items.
As part of the early festivities of the evening, NBC-TV’s Lu Ann Cahn announced the first raffle item, of which there were five in total, a free one-year membership to JBN and it was won by honoree Marc Pruzan. What a way to kick things off – you’ll see the coincidence as you continue to read along!
After the welcome reception and lots of mingling, guests were escorted to the Bodek Lounge for the awards presentation and subsequent live auction hosted by Harris Gubin, Lead Ambassador of JBN.
The program began with Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, Executive Director of JHP, thanking sponsors, students and staff for making the event a success, and he went on to say how JHP, which was founded in 1993, illuminates our environment, ignites friendships, reaches and helps people share the light. “Tonight we are honoring three amazing lamp lighters,” Rabbi Schmidt went on to say, adding, “… you are the light to those around you.”
Student Speaker Brian Engel, intern for JHP, University of Pennsylvania Class of 2014, remarked how the benefits of JHP are “endless” and how the organization has helped him and his friends remain committed to their heritage while away from their families at school.
The first honoree of the evening was David Adelman, President and CEO of Campus Apartments, the largest privately held student housing company in the country. Adelman was presented with the JHP Mentor of the Year award. He took the podium saying he was honored to be there and, of course, his Jewish mother was there too. He thanked Alan Horowitz for being his mentor, and looks forward to the fall 2011 opening of the new Perelman Center for Jewish Life - Lubavitch House at Penn. “The pleasure has been all mine,” Adelman stated.
Marc Pruzan, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Firstrust Bank, was the second honoree of the evening and was given the JBN Leadership Honoree award. During his remarks he spoke of the first time he attended a JBN event citing, “How bad could it be? They were Jewish, I am Jewish. They were in business, I am in business.” The speaker at that particular JBN event was a man who is President of a $2 billion bank who spoke about how his grandfather went door to door in South Philadelphia to raise $8,000 to get a Federal Bank Charter. Little did Pruzan know that the banker, Richard Green, would one day be signing his pay checks as Firstrust Bank is the one that was started by Green’s grandfather. Pruzan added, “It did not take me long to realize that this business organization [JBN] was able to attract top movers and shakers in Philadelphia.” (Note the coincidence of Pruzan winning the one-year free membership to JBN earlier on in the evening.)
The next honoree was JHP Young Professional Network Honoree: Scott Solomon of The Montgomery Benefits Group. Solomon was born and raised in Elkins Park, PA and sits on numerous boards and organizes various social and networking events as well as raise funds for the Jewish community in both Philadelphia and Israel. Upon taking the podium Solomon said, “Wow! This is like my Bar Mitzvah all over again!” He went on to say, “Without the support of my peers, my family and my friends, the belief in Young Philanthropy would not exist. Through all of the JHP related activities and the events orchestrated with the help of Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, I have been inspired to reignite my Jewish identity,” adding, “From the bottom of my heart, I am truly honored.”
Coffee and dessert was next on the evening’s agenda while Gubin announced the four remaining raffle winners and took his position as the featured auctioneer for the event’s live auction which saw eight items including one titled, “How to be a Rock Star–a once-in-a-lifetime experience with Aron Magner from Disco Biscuits.”
The event wrapped-up with another round of thanks and applause for all of the honorees, sponsors, staff, participants and guests.
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications
Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
