Nathan ("Nat") Schlossberg, a retired school teacher now working in the securities field, has been involved with UJA for over 50 years. Both he and his wife, Estelle, have contributed to UJA for more than half a century. Not only has Nat been a faithful donor to the United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest NJ and its predecessors, but he has also been active as a volunteer fundraiser.

For many years, from the early ‘60s through most of the ‘70s, he cochaired the Newark school system teachers' UJA campaign with Dotty Gladstone. "At the time, there were around 4,400 teachers in the Newark schools, and about 1,300 were Jewish," he recalled. "There were 66 schools, so it was quite a job to get around and make contacts with all the Jewish teachers. Many of the gifts were for $5 or $10."

Schlossberg cares deeply about Israel and has vivid recollections of participating in a UJA mission immediately after the Six Days War in 1967. "There was an exuberant feeling throughout Israel. We went all through the West Bank – it was wide open then. We even took a plane trip across the Sinai desert to the Suez Canal and circled around Sharm-El-Sheikh."

Since then, he and Estelle have visited Israel many times. An important reason for their continuing support of UJA is knowing that their gifts help fund many projects that make life better for the people of Israel.

His involvement with the YM/YWHA (now JCC MetroWest) goes back to 1948, when he joined the "Y" on High Street in Newark and continued with membership in the "Y" on Chancellor Avenue, Newark. When the capital campaign for the "Y" in West Orange was launched about 40 years ago, he was asked to serve as chairman of the West Orange drive for the "Y" on Northfield Avenue, which is now the Leon and Toby Cooperman JCC. "They gave me a quota of $50,000," he said, "and I brought in $103,000!"

He served on the executive board of the Northfield Avenue "Y" for its first 12 years and today, he is a sustaining member of the JCC and a contributor to its current building fund. He was also active in B'nai B'rith and in 1977 was president of the West Orange chapter, which then had more than 600 members.

The Schlossbergs spend part of the year in Florida, and regularly attend the MetroWest Florida Reunions. They take a table each year and Nat enthusiastically recruits others for the event. He is also actively involved with the UJA Financial Services Division.

If you, like Estelle and Nat Schlossberg, have given to UJA for 25 years or more, the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest would like to recognize you as a Ner Tamid Achiever, with a listing on the Ner Tamid honor roll and invitations to special events. If you are already a Ner Tamid Achiever, JCF encourages you to share your thoughts and feelings about UJA at .