Palm Beach Gardens residents Stacey and Mark Levy have made a gift of $10 million to the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County to launch the Stacey & Mark Levy Center for Israel & Overseas (Levy Center). On the heels of two other significant gifts to Federation this season, the Levys also have made one of the largest contributions in the organization’s history.

Announced at the H. Irwin Levy Founders Event at Palm Beach Country Club on Jan. 9, 2023, the Levy Center will provide a permanent source of funding to support the historic connection between Jewish Palm Beach and Israel through local initiatives like the Israel Program Center; to further connect people in the Palm Beaches with Jewish people around the world; and to strengthen Federation’s investments that care for Jewish communities in 70 countries during crisis or conflict and every day.

“Helping build and sustain a strong Jewish Palm Beach and Israel is central to who we are and has become increasingly meaningful as our children and grandchildren now live here,” the Levys said in a prepared statement. “We are committing to Federation because we want to help ensure a quality local Jewish community for years to come. We feel confident that Federation will forever be the central Jewish organization in the Palm Beaches that cares for our extended global family.”

Fueled by the couple’s decades-long commitment to global Jewry at a time of rising antisemitism, the Levy Center will further Federation’s multimillion-dollar annual investments with Federation’s global partners — such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and The Jewish Agency for Israel — to ensure that families and communities around the world have resources and services they need to survive and thrive.

Locally, the Levy Center brings together learning and community building opportunities about Israel through Federation’s Israel Program Center; Federation’s programs to welcome young adults from Israel to the Palm Beaches to familiarize people at home with Israel; as well as immersive overseas missions and travel experiences.

The Levy Center also will become home to Partnership2Gether, Federation’s nearly 30-year partnership with Israel’s TZAHAR region, which comprises the northern Israeli cities Tzfat, Hatzor HaGlilit and Rosh Pina, as well as the Palm Beaches’ newer partnership with the Jewish community of Budapest, Hungary. Our deep and lasting partnership with these overseas communities includes regular visits between our communities, volunteer opportunities, joint projects, and shared experiences that have built lasting, authentic people-to-people relationships of shared care and responsibility.

The Levys’ gift includes a multiyear commitment to Federation’s Annual Campaign, the organization’s primary fundraising vehicle to address the needs of today’s Jewish community. They are also generous annual supporters of local Jewish organizations and programs, including Alpert Jewish Family Service, Mandel Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches, mosaic TV show and podcast, and global organizations Birthright Israel and The Jewish Agency, including its Amigour Senior Housing Project that provides housing for seniors in Israel who would otherwise live in poverty. In the broader community, the Levys have been longtime supporters of a number of organizations, including Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and the United Way of Palm Beach County.

“Mark and Stacey are extraordinary role models, inspiring our community’s most significant leaders to create a strong Jewish future through their philanthropy, time, and expertise,” Michael Hoffman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, said in a news release. “Mark’s parents, Jeanne Levy, of blessed memory, and Irwin Levy, were pioneers of the Palm Beach Jewish community. Today, Mark and Stacey are shaping and securing our community’s future, supporting the dramatic expansion of one of the largest Jewish communities in North America, with an unwavering commitment to our global Jewish family.”