Sharan Kushner grew up entrenched in the Baltimore Jewish community and has been heavily involved in local Jewish organizations like The Associated, which is part of her desire to give back.
Kushner has been a lifelong volunteer in the Jewish community, serving in roles such as co-chair of The Associated’s Young Women’s Leadership Council, vice president of education for the Women’s Department, co-chair of Super Phone Day and president of Levindale Auxiliary, among others.
Kushner was recently selected to receive The Associated’s Carole Sibel Outstanding Fundraising Achievement Award, recognizing “commitment to The Associated as a dedicated fundraiser over a significant period of time,” according to the award website.
Kushner lives in Pikesville and is a member of Beth Tfiloh and Beth El Congregations.
Can you describe the importance of the Baltimore Jewish community on your life?
When I grew up, I thought everybody was Jewish, because we lived on Strathmore Avenue off of Park Heights Avenue, I went to Beth Tfiloh Day School, and I went to Pimlico Junior High School.
My exposure was what it was. I only seemed to know Jewish people, which was fine, but that gave me my identity. I wasn’t looking for something else.
I went to college and, of course, I met other people, but the Baltimore Jewish community, to me, represents people who have really taken the opportunities that have been given to them and done amazing things in education and health. The outreach that The Associated and other Jewish organizations do is remarkable.
I think Baltimore happens to be an amazing community. I know we’re held up as an example throughout the country, so it’s good to be a part of that.
How did you get involved with The Associated?
Somebody asked if I wanted to come to a Tupperware party. I was so newly married, I didn’t even know what Tupperware was. And I said, “I don’t know.” And then someone else said, “Well, I’m having a meeting. We’re starting an organization called [American Women’s] ORT,” which, at the time, was new in Baltimore [and I went to that instead]. So that’s how organizational life started.
I went to that ORT meeting. I became very involved, and ended up being president. Because I was in that, they asked me to be in young leadership at The Associated, so one segued to the other.
What did being selected for the award mean to you?
Carole Sibel was a dear friend. She was a great inspiration for me. She always had some activity or some involvement [in the community], and I just happened to get friendly with her because of The Associated.
I was a vice president when she was a president in the women’s department. So, when they called to tell me I received this award for campaign, I was really overwhelmed, because I knew her well, and it meant a lot to me.
What type of fundraising have you done that led to your selection?
Every year, whoever’s the chairman of the campaign will call you at some point and say, “Hi, we have six or seven [groups to call]. Do you mind calling?” And I always say, “Yes, I absolutely mind calling, but yes, I absolutely will do it, because somebody has to do it.”
And I mean I can’t say that it makes me excited to ask people for money, but I always feel a real sense of commitment. I’m fortunate that I can ask for other people’s money instead of asking people to give me money. And so I’ve done it. I don’t think I’ve missed a year in all these years.
Your volunteering also took you to briefly serve in the IDF. Can you tell me about that?
I appreciate Israel, the struggles for the ability to have a state, and know that it needs our support. And knowing what’s all around it, all the countries that hate Israel, you can’t help but feel like you’re defending and committed. … When my daughters were 18 and 20, I did this program called the Volunteers for the Israel Defense Forces. And you go and you volunteer to be in the army for three weeks.
At the time, it seemed like a good idea. … It was meaningful to me, because my daughters were 18 and 20, and the kids on the base were 18 to 20. They graduate from high school and they go into the army for a couple of years, and I could not get over the differences in their life.
If you took the kids out of the uniform, they look like my daughters. And looking at the different life that they have being in Israel and my two teenagers going to college and graduating high school, I think it was a tremendous impact to be there at that particular time and appreciate what these young people go through.
What are some things people might not know about you?
I was a special ed teacher. I did the volunteer thing. I play a lot of pickleball. I help deliver food for Backpacks for Kids; that was great. I was in a drama group for 25 years. We put shows on for each other, which I loved. I also make mandel bread and sell it to a couple of stores.
There’s a place in Owings Mills called Clean Cuisine. And my daughter seemed to think he should sell my stuff there. She said [to the owner], “Jerry, you have to taste my mother’s mandel bread.”
And he said, “Everybody’s mother’s mandel bread is the best. I’m not selling anybody else’s stuff. I don’t need it.”
So she brought it in, and he really liked it. So I did that four years ago. I’ve been doing it ever since. So I sell to him and to Gourmet Girls, and it’s a nice side thing to do.
