Former President Bill Clinton returns to San Diego to serve as keynote speaker for the United Jewish Federation’s (UJF) Together as One event, to be held Tuesday, March 6 at the downtown Manchester Grand Hyatt.
Whereas the UJF usually hosts several events each year, including one for men and another for women, the securing of Clinton was sure to draw a large crowd and eliminate the need for separate gatherings ” hence the event’s title.
An estimated 2,000 are expected to attend.
Additionally, Together as One also marks the organization’s 70th anniversary in San Diego.
“This is the first time we’re doing this together,” co-chair Judy Lilienthal said. [It’s] like an outreach because of the 70th anniversary of the federation.”
At UJF events, “there’s never been someone as big as him in San Diego before,” Lilienthal said.
Having parlayed his presidency into a career as one of the world’s leading philanthropy advocates, Clinton was asked by the event co-chairs to speak on this very topic. The idea is to encourage philanthropic giving, as each attendee is required to make a minimum gift to UJF’s annual campaign.
“The UJF is, if you will, a United Way of the Jewish community,” said Murray Galinson, co-chair for Together as One. “It supports a number of agencies within San Diego County … and it also supports a number of overseas organizations, mostly in Israel.”
The event kicks off at 6 p.m. with a kosher dinner buffet on the fourth floor of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, along with a hosted bar. Then at 7:15 p.m., the doors to the Douglas Pavilion on the first floor will open to guests for theater-style seating. The program starts at 8 p.m.
As moderator, Galinson will be handling written questions submitted by the audience And while there will no doubt be a speaker introducing the keynote speaker, Galinson said the organization is really trying to focus on him rather than on other people.
“I think [Clinton’s visit] will match with the federation’s work that we’re doing here with what he does now after he’s been president,” Lilienthal said.
Organizers said they might expect the estimated number of attendees to increase, since “in San Diego, people don’t make reservations until the last minute,” said Galinson with a laugh. “We’re mainly getting reservations from people who have not been recent contributors. But for the most part, these will be people who have contributed in the last several years.”
For information, visit www.jewishinsandiego.org.