supporting The Cedars
Our success depends on your generosity.
For over 80 years The Cedars has relied on the generosity of people like you to help us fulfill our promise of caring for the elders of our community. Your support has enabled us to expand and adapt our service options to respond to the ever-changing needs of the people we serve.
As our society continues to age we must forge ahead and meet our seniors’ vital, growing needs. The Cedars is improving the quality of life for over eight hundred individuals annually, closing the gap between public subsidies and the actual cost of care, while also assisting low-income seniors through our programs.
Learn more about how your generosity can help us fulfill our mission — and help you reach your personal, philanthropic, and financial goals.
Your support helps us to maintain our high standards, strengthen our current services and continue to respond to demands for new and innovative programs in the future.
Thank you for your generosity!
Meet our Donors:
The Osher Family
“We help others because we were brought up that way.”
In the early 1900s, two traditional Eastern European immigrants followed their families to America. Samuel and Leah made individual journeys to the land of opportunity to find freedom, and found each other. They married on Leah’s 19th birthday and began the hard work of raising a family of five children in Biddeford, Maine, during the Great Depression.
They were partners in everything they did — from running the family hardware store, to acquiring and managing their real estate holdings. They drew strength from their Jewish heritage and were active members of Maine’s Jewish community. Leah would be one of the pioneering women of The Cedars Auxiliary, and Samuel would have the honor of “burning the mortgage” at Biddeford’s Etz Chaim synagogue. The way they lived their lives instilled in their children a deep dedication to education and philanthropy.
The legacy of Leah Lazarovich and Samuel Osher lives on in their son, Bernard Osher. “Like our father, he is gregarious, adventurous and cheerful, a real ‘chip off the old block’. Like our mother, he feels strongly about taking care of elders and giving to charity,” says his brother, Dr. Harold Osher. “We help others because we were brought up that way. My parents would be very proud of this gift to The Cedars. Giving is how they defined their success.”
Though they seek neither the limelight nor praise, Bernard Osher and his wife Barbro made a most impressive contribution to this organization in 2008 through The Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation. They have chosen to honor the legacy of Leah and Samuel Osher by naming our new assisted living residence, Osher Inn, in their memory.
