Get to Know Us

Founded in 2002, the RZF is a small family foundation whose giving reflects the diverse interests of its members. Despite our wide-ranging donations, however, we remain united in our commitment to ameliorating suffering and correcting inequity of all varieties in Virginia and beyond.

• We fight racist policies in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, the ACLU of Virginia, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
• We advocate for, and support services to our vulnerable seniors through the Jewish Social Services Agency and the National Council on Aging.
• We help victims – of sexual violence, displacement, abuse, bereavement, poverty, and more – get back on their feet in partnership with compassionate organizations like RAINN, Cat’s Cradle, So Others Might Eat, and Tomorrow’s Rainbow.

We are committed to preserving and protecting our natural environment and ensuring that everyone can enjoy clean air, fresh water, and wholesome food.  Therefore, we prioritize environmental stewardship through grantees like the National Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Action Fund, Slow Food USA and Fairfax County and Shenandoah National Parks.

We also believe that everyone deserves a life beyond subsistence, enriched by not only immersion in nature, but also by joyful, community-building recreation. Participation in the arts, especially among the young, is near and dear to our hearts. For this reason, we support camp scholarships and Arts in the Park programs in partnership with the Fairfax County Parks Foundation and community theatre, through ShenanArts.

Finally, access to reliable information is crucial to our democracy. Therefore, public radio and libraries are invaluable educational assets deserving of protection; hence, our grants to branches of NPR and local libraries.