Dear JGSLA Members and Friends:

Can you help JGSLA? We have signed up as a qualified non-profit organization with Ralph’s supermarkets. If you ever shop at Ralph’s, we hope you will affiliate your Ralph’s Rewards card with JGSLA’s number, by following the following instructions. If you don’t yet have a Ralph’s Rewards card, you can obtain one at any Ralph’s supermarket.

Ralph’s will send a small portion of all purchases made with the JGSLA number on a quarterly basis. As the cost of our venues increase, and in order to continue to present the wonderful programs and benefits we are able to enjoy, without raising the membership cost, we are hoping you can help out by shopping with your Ralph’s Rewards card, after you have followed the procedure below to affiliate your card with JGSLA!

Thanks for all you do!!

First, register online at www.ralphs.com.

Be sure to have your Ralphs REWARDS card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.

If you do not yet have a Ralphs REWARDS card, they are available at the customer service desk at any Ralphs.

Click on Sign In/Register

If you are a new online customer, you must click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.

Sign up for a Ralphs Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, enter your card number and personal information, agreeing to the terms and conditions then ‘Complete Registration’.

You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.

Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.

Click on Edit Community Contribution information and input the 5 digit NPO number for JGSLA, which is 91851, click search, select your organization and save changes.

Now, view your profile including your organization participation.

REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after you register your card(s).

Do you use your phone number at the register? Call 800-660-9003 to get your REWARDS card number.

Members must swipe their registered Ralphs REWARDS card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Ralphs REWARDS card when shopping for each purchase to count.

If you are interested in the alternate SCANBAR method of member registration, please call 800-443-4438 or email your request to community.programs@ralphs.com and a SCANBAR letter will be mailed to you.

Sad news published today on the AncestryMagazine.com web site:

“For 25 years, Ancestry magazine has been a valuable, timely resource for family history professionals, hobbyists, and novices alike. For a variety of reasons, the time has come for us to discontinue publication. Over the last few years, we have found that with the expanded accessibility of terrific family history content published online at Ancestry.com we can reach a larger and broader audience than the limited distribution of a print publication.

“The March/April 2010 issue will be the final issue of Ancestry magazine. Subscribers to Ancestry magazine with current subscriptions that will not be completed by the mailing of the March/April 2010 magazine will receive prorated refunds. Subscribers will find a letter enclosed with their final issue informing them of these details. We are also no longer selling new magazine subscriptions nor renewing those that have expired. Single copies of past issues, including the upcoming March/April issue, will be available for purchase in our online store.

“With Ancestry magazine we have loved the opportunity we’ve had to write about the best of what we found in the world of family history. We thank our readers and contributors for sharing our enthusiasm for all things genealogy.

Sincerely,

The Ancestry Magazine Staff”

– As noted in Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter

JewishData.com is the newest JGSLA member feature!

Have you renewed your membership for 2010 yet? If you did, you will have received an email dated Jan 6, 2010 giving access to JewishData.com.  If not, don’t delay sending your renewal, so that you can enjoy this new membership benefit. Here is a response from our member Barbara Nevens written upon receipt of this new membership benefit:

Sandy,
What a wonderful benefit. Even without the password, I was taken down a whole new path just by finding the name of the cemetery where my husband’s paternal grandfather is interred. The cemetery has a searchable site and, together with the NY death index on italiangen, I was able to learn the date of death and obtain a copy of his dc. Until then, I was never certain that he had emigrated from Russia. Now with access to photos, I’ll never come up for air!

I should add that Bobby Furst helped me find a number of other family members once I had found “Grandpa” on JewishData. The others are not on that site but she managed to find them elsewhere within a few days while I had been searching for them for several years. The woman is a genius!

Thank you,
Barbara Nevens

I am writing from Melbourne, Australia and trying to find research information about my uncle and aunt Henry and Bess Fischer and family who emigrated to the USA in 1949 from Bremerhaven, Germany to Boston, Massachusetts disembarking in Philadelphia…destination the United Service for New Americans (USNA), Jewish Family Services in Spruce street.

Henry was originally from Lodz in Poland.

The family was assisted through the International Refugee Organisation (IRO), spent some time in NY and then settled in Los Angeles, California.

I am hoping to find immigration records, shipping records. I do have the name of the ship, death records or any details to assist with research.

I have tried ancestry.com.

As I am unfamiliar with finding/accessing information in the USA, any assistance you can provide, or links to find info would be greatly appreciated.

I have taken note of the excellent section on your site re suggested links.

I am wondering if perhaps the family was known to your organisation and may be further able to assist.

Many thanks,
Freda Leiba
leiba@iprimus.com.au

I just wanted to let you know that this was really a nice event! I enjoyed the treats you had for us and thought the choice of films was excellent—I’ve been thinking about all three since…especially that last one!

Judy Eisikowitz