The Wigit Fund

Happy Anniversary to Wigit!!

Jason Epstein — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 21:19:12 +0000

Three years ago today, we were married! That means that it has also been three years since the founding of the Wigit Fund. Since then we have seen quite a number of changes in our household. One thing that has stayed constant is our commitment to the Wigit Fund. As of today, the balance stands at $6,517.60. We are less than $3,500 away from our goal of being able to recommend grants. Thank you all for your support!!

Dusting off the old website...

Jason Epstein — Tue, 11 May 2004 14:58:34 +0000

Well, it sure has been a while since this was updated. One of the amazing things about financial investments is how you can leave them for a couple years and nearly forget about them and they'll still keep on growing. If only plants were like that, we'd all be green thumbs.

Anyway, I finally got around to checking out the website and I was amazed to read what we had put together nearly three years ago. I am happy to report that thanks to some generous donations from Shira's family members we have climbed nearly three thousand dollars since our last post.

Current total: $6,454.15!

Thanks for your support!

A quick update...

Jason Epstein — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 05:00:20 +0000

We just passed $3,500!! It's amazing how quickly good news spreads!

What is Wigit?

Jason Epstein — Sun, 01 Jul 2001 04:00:52 +0000

Planning a wedding requires a great deal of compromise. Whether you are picking the menu, choosing the invite list or working out the ceremony details you have to give a little to get a little. As we talked about our wedding and our life together, however, we found one area where we did not need to compromise at all. Both of us share a strong commitment to tzedakah. Most recently, Jason ran a marathon to raise over $5,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and a few years ago Shira worked for Jewish Funders Network, a membership organization that helps family foundations and foundation professionals to be more strategic and effective in their fundraising.

We have often talked about our shared dream of managing a family foundation which could make serious financial contributions to causes which we support. At first we thought that this was an idea for when we were older. There was no way, we assumed, that two students with limited financial means could make a difference. Then we remembered the Chinese proverb that even a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. We decided to think big and find a first step that we could take today.

After some significant research we found an exciting opportunity through the Jewish Communal Fund to start a philanthropic fund of our own. Using a percentage of the cash gifts we received at our wedding, the Wigit Fund was born. Through the fund we plan to support organizations promoting education, peace and conflict resolution, soctial justice in the United States and Israel and causes dedicated to encouraging understanding and tolerance.

Who was Wigit?

Jason Epstein — Wed, 01 Aug 2001 04:00:29 +0000

You might be one of the millions of people wondering what the significance of the name, The Wigit Fund. The easiest explanation is that Wigit is the pet name that we use for each other. It was discovered on our very first date when we sat down to play a game of Boggle where the object is to find words hidden within a playing field of letters. Both of us being strong competitors, it was not surprising that the crucial final round featured some words never seen before in the Oxford English Dictionary. One of the words, Wigit, stuck out in our mind and soon became our pet name for each other.

In thinking of a name for our family fund, we wanted to give it a name that would be both unique and meaningful to us. In addition, just as the word Wigit has grown and changed with us over the past 16 months to become more significant than we ever imagined it would be, we hope that the Wigit Fund will someday surpass our own expectations as well.

How to Make a Difference

Jason Epstein — Sun, 08 Jul 2001 04:00:21 +0000

The Wigit Fund provides a simple and straight forward way to make donations. Donations made to The Wigit Fund are 100% tax deductible. The principal is invested and once we reach $10,000 in value we will use the returns to write grants to organizations that support the initiatives that we mentioned last week.

The Jewish Communal Fund takes care of all documentation for tax purposes. Donations may be made in honor or memory of another individual.

Please consider using The Wigit Fund when you are looking to make charitable contributions.

Donations should be sent payable to:
JCF/The Wigit Fund
c/o Jewish Communal Fund
575 Madison Avenue, Suite 703
New York, NY 10022