On the day that Andrea Hyatt first stepped foot inside the building that then housed the Allied Jewish Federation of Denver, she could not imagine how that simple act of “showing up,” as she calls it, would change her life.
Today, 47 years later, Hyatt walks through the doors of the same building, now the renovated home of JEWISHcolorado, carrying a brightly colored bag that holds a book of her personal Jewish journey. And it is a heavy book, packed with newspaper clippings, honors, carefully typewritten letters, artwork, photos, and many pages of Jewish community history in Colorado.
At the heart of that history are Hyatt’s personal experiences, those of a woman who wanted to find a greater purpose in her life.
“I needed to do something for Andrea besides being a mother, a daughter, and a wife,” she says. “So I came to the Federation and said, ‘What can I do? I will do what needs to be done.’”
For decades she has fulfilled that commitment, and she has kept the memorabilia to document her engagement in Colorado’s Jewish life.
Today, the words she spoke at a Yeshiva Women’s Auxiliary Luncheon in the 1990s—an event where she was honored along with her beloved mother Harriette and delivered a speech that she has kept in her heavy book—still motivate her and represent her message for the future.
“Al tifrosh min ha tzibbur,” she told the audience decades ago. “Do not separate yourself from the community, for to do so weakens the threads of our richly woven heritage.”
‘It was the Federation that spoke to me’
For Andrea Hyatt, it all started at a community fair at Temple Emanuel in the late 1970s. She had come to the fair to hear Marilyn Van Derbur Atler talk about the importance of volunteering, and she had stayed in the social hall to pick up brochures from booths representing various community organizations.
When she returned home, one brochure caught her attention.
“It was the Federation that spoke to me,” she recalls. “It was the umbrella organization, and it encompassed so much that it seemed like it offered a full and rich opportunity.”
Hyatt started showing up every Friday at the Federation building, becoming a literal “Gal Friday,” doing what needed to be done.
On one of those days, Kathy Heidtbrink, who was then head of the Federation’s Women’s Division, beckoned her over and made Hyatt an offer: Would Hyatt be interested in getting involved with Federation’s Young Leadership? Of course she would.
Many years later, Hyatt still has a letter from the Federation dated April 30, 1981, thanking her for taking on the Young Leadership Development Program.
From there, she blossomed, taking on leadership roles in the Women’s Division and in fundraising. She chaired “more committees than I can even remember.” With each new responsibility came an official letter, a clipping, or a thank-you note, and instead of throwing them away, she started stuffing them into a folder, thereby becoming the Federation’s unofficial historian.
“I started keeping things to honor my personal journey,” she says. “But when I was working on projects and looking for information about how we had done things in the past so we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, I didn’t find much. I became the collector!”
Eventually, Hyatt’s single folder threatened to take over an entire drawer. She already had experience creating scrapbooks for her two daughters. Now, she realized it was time to create her own scrapbook by organizing her collection. Thus was the book of Andrea’s Jewish journey born.
‘You deserve the credit’
Andrea Hyatt is a treasure of warm smiles, easy laughter, hugs, and straight talk. Page through her book and you will find more treasures, including:
A newspaper photo of an early 1980s “Super Sunday” with large blue and white Jewish stars that Hyatt cut by hand, painted, and hung at the Channel 6 studio—plus a letter of thanks for all she had done to make the day a success that had been attached to a check for $74 to cover her expenses.
A 1987 letter of thanks for hosting the Lion of Judah luncheon in her home—where she made Lion centerpieces to grace the tables. “You made it all look so easy, and I guess that is the mark of a wonderful hostess.”
A June 1988 letter from Bette Cooper: “The 1988 Women’s Division Campaign is over and it is difficult to find the right words to express my gratitude. This year we raised a million dollars…because of your dedicated concern, hard work, cooperation and creativity, we were able to have a fabulous year…you deserve the credit for making that happen.”
A March 1989 letter from Sheldon Steinhauser: “It is always gratifying when people of your caliber take on leadership responsibilities in the community. I thank you…for making the Federation a priority in your life.”
A 1993 newspaper photo when Hyatt chaired the Women’s Division campaign standing with Elaine Asarch, Carol Sobel, and Arlene Hirschfeld.
Copies of “Currents” the monthly newsletter of the Allied Jewish Federation of Denver.
A March 1993 letter from Michael Feiner: “There is a saying that quality always rises to the top and this is certainly the case concerning you and your recent designation as President Designate for the Women’s Division 1994-95.
Through the years, the letterheads changed—from Allied Jewish Federation of Denver to Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado to what is now JEWISHcolorado. And through the years, Hyatt’s Jewish journey expanded outside the Federation to other passions—most significantly National Jewish Hospital.
“Through Federation, I started networking,” Hyatt says. “My scope of life grew, and that made me a better woman, a better Jew, and a better person.”
‘The Federation is a tremendous bridge’
Through her volunteer work with the Federation, Hyatt made her first trip to Israel on a women’s mission. There, in her ancestral homeland, she found the “heart” of her purpose as a fundraiser in Colorado.
“In Israel, there was a mezuzah on every door,” she says. “I was farklempt because I felt I was home.”
Go through Hyatt’s Jewish journey book, and you will find documentation of her many talents—as an organizer, a fundraiser, and often as an artist. If there were need for the cover art for an invitation, Hyatt stepped in and created it. Do what needs to be done—that is her fundamental philosophy of volunteering.
“Showing up is the most important thing, because nothing will happen if you don’t show up,” she says. “I am still showing up, and I see a younger generation also stepping up, and it heartens me to see young people engaged.”
The official name of the Federation has changed more than once during Hyatt’s 47 years of involvement, but to her, the essential mission of Federation remains consistent and vital.
“I think Federation is a tremendous bridge into the greater community, and it offers the opportunity to learn about yourself by being part of something bigger than yourself,” she says. “You step through that door, and you are part of an expansive place where you can grow and learn on-the-job skills with opportunities you might not have had otherwise.”
Her volunteer work has also informed Hyatt’s life and her giving.
“My philanthropy has grown over the years as a result of my involvement, exposure, and commitment to supporting what I consider to be vital and essential,” she says. “It is an honor as well as a responsibility to support and sustain our Jewish community both here and in Israel. I am so grateful to be able to give.”
There are a number of loose items tucked inside Andrea’s book that still need to be organized. The work continues. When it comes time to leave JEWISHcolorado, she declines offers to help carry the heavy bag. “I’m strong,” she says.
And so it is with purposeful people. They always have a project in progress. And so it is with Andrea Hyatt as her Jewish journey continues.