The Pittsburgh Jewish community honors champions of inclusion annually with the Shore-Whitehill Award. The Shore-Whitehill Award, created in 1996, is named for Robert Whitehill and the late Barbara Shore and celebrates volunteers who promote inclusion of people with disabilities in the fabric of Jewish life through advocacy or direct service to individuals and families. On May 17, 2018, at the Jewish Family and Community Service’s Annual Meeting, Dr. Matthew A. Keller will be presented with the 2018 Shore-Whitehill Award.

Dr. Keller was nominated by Jewish Family and Community Service (JFCS) for his volunteerism and leadership with JFCS, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). He is passionate about inclusion of people with disabilities and advocating for other organizations to take this issue seriously.  Dr. Keller is currently in his third year as co-chair of the JFNA Disability Committee and was actively involved with the development and presentation of a roundtable forum on disability inclusion at JFNA’a General Assembly in. He was a key force behind the Jewish Federation’s decision to bring the Rosh Pina disability inclusion project to Pittsburgh, and he has been an active proponent of this initiative for Jewish Family and Community Services.

The Shore-Whitehill Award is given annually by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Jewish Residential Services. The Shore-Whitehill Award committee is made up of volunteers from the Jewish Community including past award winners. Recent winners of the Shore-Whitehill Award include: Daniel Leger, Janie Yahr, Judy Greenwald Cohen, and Carol Tabas. Awardees receive an original sculpture by the late Sylvia Plutchok, a Pittsburgh-based artist and recognition at an event planned by the nominating agency.