SIDNEY AND ARTHUR EDER
CREATED A LEGACY FOR THE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH WERE IMPORTANT TO THEM SIDNEY AND ARTHUR EDER FOUNDATION
Sidney and Arthur Eder, founders of Eder Brothers, Inc., a wholesale liquor distributor, worked together and gave together. In 1954, they established the Sidney and Arthur Eder Foundation, Inc. to support charitable organizations in Stamford and New Haven where they lived, respectively, with their families. In early 1980, they involved Sidney’s son, Andrew, and Arthur’s daughter, Jill, in the activities of their Foundation.
Sidney died in 1985 and Arthur in 2006. Andy and Jill wanted to make sure that their fathers’ legacies would continue and be honored. They worked with the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven to establish designated endowment funds at the Jewish Foundation that would be funded through the Sidney and Arthur Eder Foundation. These endowment funds are designated for the following organizations
- The Anti-Defamation League of Connecticut’s education-related programs , including Confronting Anti-Semitism and the A World of Difference Institute
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
- The Arts Council of Greater New Haven for the New Haven Clay and Paint Club’s annual juried exhibition, something Arthur had consistently supported for over 30 years
- PACE (Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment) to benefit the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven Annual Campaign. Funds will help to support the Jewish community in Greater New Haven, as well as Jewish communities in need in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, North Africa, India, Latin America, the former Soviet Union and Israel
Each of these funds will continue in perpetuity and will be managed and invested through the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven.
“Closing the Sidney and Arthur Eder Foundation, and transferring the assets to the Jewish Foundation made sense,” said Andy Eder. “The monies that my father and uncle donated will continue to support the organizations which were most important to them over many years. Both Jill and I have confidence in the Jewish Foundation managing and administering these endowments. This will insure that the legacy started by Sidney and Arthur continues. Furthermore, It also reduces the administrative and legal costs that would have been incurred if our family foundation continued as a separate entity “
The Jewish community was of particular importance to both brothers. Sidney was a past President of The Jewish Federation of Greenwich and was one of the founders of The Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield. When he retired to Palm Beach, he continued working in both the Jewish community and the arts community there. Arthur, along with his friends Pat Goodwin and Sam Glazer, was one of the founders of the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven. During his lifetime, Arthur established funds at the Foundation for the benefit of Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden, and the Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge. He served on many committees for the benefit of the community.
“Jill and I know that this is what they would have wanted,” stated Andy. “We are honored to continue to support those organizations that were so important to them. We both learned a tremendous amount from our fathers and only hope that we can continue to carry on their good works. We could not be more proud of their generosity and their accomplishments.”
GIFT TO JEWISH FOUNDATION FEATURED IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | 05-JUL-2012
By Melanie Grayce West
In the decades after World War II, brothers Sidney and Arthur Eder together built a wholesale liquor business in Connecticut and a philanthropic legacy. Both live on today in the form of a family business and in grants from the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven.
Sidney Eder entered the liquor business shortly after the repeal of Prohibition. In the late 1940s, he bought out his partners and brought in his brother, Arthur. Sidney maintained the warehouse in Greenwich, Conn., and Arthur a warehouse in New Haven. The business continues today under Sidney’s son, Andrew Eder, 63 years old and president of Eder Brothers.
The two worked hard to build a successful business and, in 1954, established an independent foundation to support causes in Stamford and New Haven. Generally, says Mr. Eder, Jewish causes were top priorities for his father and uncle, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. The two also supported the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, various scholarships and hospitals.
But each man made smaller donations as well. Arthur Eder, for example, sent a few hundred dollars every year to the Arts Council of Greater New Haven to support a prize at the New Haven Paint & Clay Club. Mr. Eder says that he discovered over time that both men helped people directly in a way that was never made public. Some institutions received anonymous gifts.
“Every once in a while someone says, ‘You can’t believe what your father did for me,'” says Mr. Eder. “They were just really good people at helping others. They had a very public face to that and a very private face.”
Like many children, Mr. Eder and his cousin, Jill Eder (Arthur’s daughter), were left with a philanthropic legacy and a foundation to carry forward. Sidney died in 1986 and Arthur in 2006. Mr. Eder says that he and his cousin, who have their own philanthropic interests, wanted a way to take the assets of their fathers’ foundation and preserve “the things that were most important to them.”
Last year, the cousins gave $4.5 million to the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven to create an endowment to their fathers. It was a move to preserve the assets of their family foundation and acknowledge Arthur Eder’s work to found the foundation in New Haven. Recently, the Eder endowment awarded roughly $163,000 in grants to support the federation’s work, the Anti-Defamation League of Connecticut and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.
Also on the list of recipients: the New Haven Paint & Clay Club. The brothers gave a tiny gift for almost 40 years, said Mr. Eder, and he didn’t feel it appropriate to second guess the contribution. However, he did increase the gift amount.
“I said, ‘This is ridiculous!’ It’s been $200 dollars forever and we increased it to $300,” says Mr. Eder with a laugh. “You would have thought we’d given them $10 million bucks.”