Pitt Alumni for Tree of Life

University of Pittsburgh alumni join in the feelings of grief and anger over the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

We love Pittsburgh, we love Squirrel Hill, and we mourn for this grave loss in the Jewish community. We are committed to helping Tree of Life and the Squirrel Hill community begin to repair their world.

Let us work together to show our blue and gold, to lend a helping hand to a community that was woven into the landscape of our beloved college experience. 

This is a grassroots effort organized by Pitt alumni, dedicated to working with fellow Pitt alumni, family and friends to raise a goal of $18,000 for the Fund for Victims of Terror—a fund set up by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. 

Historically in the Jewish faith, "giving chai" means giving a gift or charitable donation of the number 18—a spiritual number in Judaism, Pitt Alumni & Friends are going to try to give chai to this community, through this incredible fund. 

This fund will help both the Jewish community members and the first responders affected.

Your donation will help directly to fund the following: 
-Psychological services
-Support for families and general family services
-Reconstruction
-Additional security throughout the community
-Medical bills, as well as counseling and other services that may prove necessary for victims and first responders during their recovery.
-Resources for Squirrel Hill religious and day schools to help the youth process this tragic episode. 

Our ambitious goal is to raise these funds in time for Hanukkah, on December 3rd. 


Organizer contact: 
Brooke Bayer, University of Pittsburgh, class of 2010