JCC Association Raises Funds
to Rebuild New Orleans Jewish Community
Agency President Presents $250,000 Check to Local
JCC Leadership
NEW YORK, NY, FEBRUARY 3, 2006 – Amid
news accounts that an estimated 200,000 homes in and around
New Orleans were destroyed during last summer’s devastating
floods, the president of JCC Association, Allan Finkelstein,
and JCC Association Chair Edward H. Kaplan traveled there
last month to offer much-needed financial and emotional support
to members of the New Orleans Jewish Community Center. The
two presented a check for $250,000, proceeds of a special
ongoing JCC Association campaign that galvanized JCCs throughout
North America—including Florida JCCs reeling from their
own hurricane experience--to collect donations from their
members to aid the struggling New Orleans institution. The
money will be used to cover operating expenses, helping the
New Orleans JCC remain in business and revive its programs,
said Arlene Barron, the agency’s executive director.
The quarter-million dollar gift, part of the $330,000 pledged
to date, was presented at the first meeting of the JCC board
of directors held since Hurricane Katrina struck the region.
The room was packed with friends, thrilled to be reconnecting
on their home turf. One board member present expressed the
feelings of many, when, according to JCC Association Regional
Vice-President Ann Eisen, also a New Orleans resident, he
said that he’d never realized until that moment how
important it was to be part of a movement and a community.
Of the meeting, Barron said, “It was a heartwarming
reunion of friends, colleagues and community leadership. But
mostly, everyone in the room was touched by Allan and Eddie's
presence as they represented the entire continentall Jewish
community in support of New Orleans Jewry. As voiced by another
board member, “It is heartwarming to know that our community
is being cared for by Jews around the country.’”
Regarding the money, she added, “These dollars will
go a long way towards rebuilding the New Orleans Jewish community
and continuing to inspire Jewish journeys.”
Fortunate to have suffered minimal damage to its physical
structure, the New Orleans JCC has reopened its doors to families
seeking critical assistance with childcare and offering them
recreational respite from the incessant travails of rebuilding
their lives.
But simply running the center has proven daunting, with a
skeleton staff and limited financial resources. Membership
levels remain uncertain, as many who fled the area have yet
to return and others who are back still lack livelihoods that
would enable them to afford JCC dues and program fees.
The community is determined to prevail and has persevered
in restarting essential services, providing them to all in
need, regardless of ability to pay. The fitness center and
childcare program are already operational, and over the next
several months, the JCC will again offer early childhood and
preschool programs. A revival of teen programming is also
intended to ensure that families will have a safe and secure
environment for their youngsters as they readjust to life
in New Orleans.
Contributions to the New Orleans JCC Reopening Fund are still
gratefully accepted. To donate, click
here.
###
JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
15 E. 26 St., NY, NY 10010
212-786-5092
fax: 212-481-4174
send an e-mail
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