Wolfson family displays big heart




REALITY CHECK—Patti Wolfson presents a donation to Jeff Rubin from the Calabasas Community Services Department to help fund Shane’s Inspiration,  a  universally  accessible playground being planned for construction in Calabasas.

REALITY CHECK—Patti Wolfson presents a donation to Jeff Rubin from the Calabasas Community Services Department to help fund Shane’s Inspiration, a universally accessible playground being planned for construction in Calabasas.


Most people know Jonathon Wolfson as a Calabasas City Council member. But in addition to his service to the city, Wolfson also gives back to the community by participating in a number of nonprofit charities, as does his sister, Patti Wolfson.

The Wolfsons grew up in an affluent family in the San Fernando Valley, but learned early in life that while some people have much, others have little. Today, both brother and sister are active community volunteers and give generously to others in need.

“All people are created equally, but they don’t all have the opportunity to live their life that way,” said Patti Wolfson, a private school teacher.

“My grandparents, Frank and Eva Winer, were very involved in helping the Jewish community locally and in Israel,” said Patti. “My parents, Sam and Shirley Wolfson, carried on this tradition by donating to many organizations. It was impressed upon me that this is a way of life. I was one of the fortunate ones that was raised with enough food on the table.”

Jonathon serves on the board of two charitable foundations, which he preferred not to name. One of the foundations gives grants to organizations that sponsor violence intervention programs and help the less fortunate people in the Los Angeles area.

Jonathon, the father of four children, also takes part in an organization that his 14-year-old daughter, Sarah, started when she was in fourth grade at Bay Laurel Elementary School.

The group, Love and Care and Help the Babies, collects items for babies in need.

“In the first year, she did a small drive at Bay Laurel and she ended up with about 20 bags of new baby items that were donated to (those in need) at the hospital down at USC at the maternity ward,” Jonathon said. “Since then, the drive has grown every year. Last year, she donated somewhere between 200 and 300 bags of baby items that included diapers, wipes, blankets, clothes and stuffed animals. That stuff went to the violence intervention program at County USC.”

Jonathon helps plan drives and activities for his daughter’s group.

In the fall, Jonathon, his wife Stephanie and daughter Sarah visited Utica, Miss. to work with Project Jacob’s Ladder, a collection and distribution effort to help with hurricane relief.

“We worked in the warehouse and helped sort and distribute donated items,” Jonathon said. Shortly after, Jonathon returned to the Gulf Coast to deliver school supplies donated by the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation and the city of Calabasas.

Before his stint on the city council, Jonathon served on the Calabasas Planning Commission and is a member of the California Bar Association. He was a threeyear board member of the International Guiding Eyes Foundation and a past executive vice president of Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas. Jonathon and his wife were founding members of the temple board.

In addition, Jonathon volunteers for the Indian Guides and plans many of their outings. 

“I know this is cliché, but it’s really nice to be able to give back,” Jonathon said. “We’re really blessed to live in Calabasas.”

Jonathon and his wife try to make their children understand that philosophy as well.

“Joshua, who’s now 12, came up with his own collection,” Jonathon said. “He collects crayons from local restaurants. the boxes of crayons they give out, and combines them with homemade coloring books—he usually has his friends donate sketches for the books—and then we deliver the coloring books and the crayons to Children’s Hospital once a year. He calls that collection drive, Color Me Better.”

“(Jonathon) is passionate about preserving the greatness of Calabasas and his election as councilman has allowed him tofulfill his dream of directing Calabasas in the future,” Patti said. “Jon is a fantastic example for his children and they are following in his footsteps with the social action work that they participate in.”

Patti, an Agoura Hills resident, is no stranger to community service. For her, volunteering has become a way of life. She’s vice chairman of the board of New Directions for Youth, a nonprofit agency in Van Nuys that assists atrisk teens and their families.

Patti’s volunteer service includes the Santa Comes to Agoura and Beyond charity since 1988, the “Rolling Readers” program at Winnetka Elementary School since 2002, teaching religious school at Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas for eight years and the synagogue’s family educational program, Mishpacha, since 2002.

More recently, Patti worked on a project with her class to raise money for Shane’s Inspiration, a universally accessible playground to be built in Calabasas. 

“My class raised funds making and selling beaded bracelets,” Patti said. “Last week, we presented Jeff Rubin from the Calabasas Park and Recreation Department with a check. We’re exploring other ways to raise additional funds for this wonderful playground.”

Patti also helped with hurricane relief and plans to do more. She’s working with the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation, which established contact with a parish in the Gulf Coast and has been helping to provide relief. Patti also has participated with such organizations as Tierra Del Sol, One Generation, Meals on Wheels, MEND (Mommies Enduring Neonatal Death), and the Child and Family Guidance Center.

“The Wolfsons do so much and people have no idea because (they) are very, very low key about it,” said George Annino, director of Santa Comes to Agoura and Beyond, another charity that Patti and Jonathon have adopted. “I was a very fortunate man to be able to meet Patti,” said Annino. “She’s just really a kind, kind person . . . I wish there were more people like Patti in this world . . . And her brother Jonathon has integrity—he’s just really a great guy.”

HELPING HAND—Jonathon Wolfson’s  charitable deeds aren’t limited to the local community. Here, he assists the school children of a Southern Louisiana parish devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

HELPING HAND—Jonathon Wolfson’s charitable deeds aren’t limited to the local community. Here, he assists the school children of a Southern Louisiana parish devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

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