Introducing

The Sidney & Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center:

Connecting the Community: Affirming our Future

Today’s Jewish community, in and around Greater Wilkes-Barre, faces a unique opportunity to secure its future and to regenerate a new sense of community and purpose. Our community is smaller than it once was, but every bit as vibrant and engaged. It is time for a new central meeting place to encourage educational, recreational, social, and cultural activities under one roof. We will create a Center that reflects the community we have become.

After years of temporary patches and hard use, our current facilities are worn out and fail to meet modern standards and needs. We face a crisis as critical as in the past; we have always rebounded, rebuilt, and reinvested. We can and must rebuild and reinvest now.

We are challenged to create a physical presence that serves evolving program, athletic, cultural, and social needs. With a real vision, a solution exists!

Introducing

The Sidney & Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center:

Connecting the Community: Affirming our Future

Today’s Jewish community, in and around Greater Wilkes-Barre, faces a unique opportunity to secure its future and to regenerate a new sense of community and purpose. Our community is smaller than it once was, but every bit as vibrant and engaged. It is time for a new central meeting place to encourage educational, recreational, social, and cultural activities under one roof. We will create a Center that reflects the community we have become.

After years of temporary patches and hard use, our current facilities are worn out and fail to meet modern standards and needs. We face a crisis as critical as in the past; we have always rebounded, rebuilt, and reinvested. We can and must rebuild and reinvest now.

We are challenged to create a physical presence that serves evolving program, athletic, cultural, and social needs. With a real vision, a solution exists!

The Sidney & Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center

The Friedman JCC is more than bricks and mortar…It’s more than state of the art equipment…

It’s the future of our region—and you can be part of it by donating to our Capital Campaign today.

Our legacy begins in 1845, and over the years through our diverse and evolving history we have developed essential programs for our region and our people. Our lives are intertwined with the values and commitment to Northeastern Pennsylvania and its citizens. This new facility reflects this legacy.

Today, more than ever, we need your help to support the valuable work the JCC does every day for educating children and youth, building minds and bodies, supporting seniors, and continuing our heritage.

Our new JCC is committed to the Jewish community and our northeastern Pennsylvania community at large. Our Center is the hub of our heritage, and its mission is focused on helping to revitalize our community and affirm our future.

Imagine…educational, recreational, social, and cultural, all under one roof! We have invested so much in our community over the past 175 years. Please consider investing in today’s Capital Campaign, and help us continue to reinvest in the future with exciting programs and a bright, attractive, efficient, and inspiring facility that makes each and everyone of us proud.

It truly is “The Center for Everyone.” Please join in and contribute today!

Join Us!

At the Center, members of our community will interact with one another and affirm our beautiful traditions and culture. In addition, the entire region will take pride
in a new model of cooperation, consolidation, and creative partnerships. Imagine the possibilities for the future of our community. Invest in the Friedman Jewish Community Center today!

Paul Lantz | Friedman JCC | The Center For Everyone“As prior generations provided for us, the Friedman Jewish Community Center provides future generations a solid foundation from which to grow and prosper. This state-of-the-art Center will also position our Jewish community as an important resource for the entire region.”

Paul Lantz
Past President, Jewish Community Alliance of NEPA

Laurie Schwager | Friedman JCC | The Center For Everyone“The Center will be a more efficient and productive use of our changing resources . . . for years ahead.”

Laurie Schwager
Community and Campaign Leader

Dr. Jason Nataupsky | Friedman JCC | The Center For Everyone“Returning to Wilkes-Barre with my wife is a decision that we made together, based on the promise of a vibrant community and one that the new campus will certainly propel.”

Dr. Jason Nataupsky

Michael Weiss | Friedman JCC Capital Campaign“As we look ahead, we’re seeing an exciting period of transition and rebirth of the local Jewish community, and the Center project creates momentum and a more positive outlook.”

Michael Weiss
Past Federation Chair

Larry Taren | Friedman JCC Capital Campaign“The building of the new Center on Third Avenue will be the most important opportunity in this century to ensure a strong community. We will be able to look to the future and choose what is in the best interest for the Wyoming Valley. It will give us the ability to offer the best of programming and activities in a great facility. I’m honored to be a part of this effort.”

Larry Taren
Campaign Leader

Built to Adapt for the Future

Built with state-of-the-art equipment and 21st century technology, the Center will feature numerous common areas and flexible spaces to accommodate a broad range of activities that will allow us to adapt to future needs. Housed in the Center will be activities along with new, expanded programming that responds to people of all ages and affiliations. These new programs will incorporate services to benefit the entire region and build on the success of our celebrated summer camp model, designed to foster interaction and involvement across all spectrums of our population.

Rob Friedman | Friedman JCC Capital Campaign“This project will revitalize so many aspects of Greater Wilkes-Barre.”

Robert Friedman
Donor

Anticipated features include:

Meeting and seminar rooms with Internet capacity
Venues for lectures, performances, and exhibits
Two basketball courts with ample spectator seating
The region’s only regulation squash courts
Convenient parking with easy pickup and drop-off areas and accessible to people with all physical capabilities
Centralized administrative facilities
Attractive social areas for events of all types and sizes
Energy-efficient, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly facilities
Respectful and dignified historical displays about local Jewish life and issues
A resource center to serve the greater community

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a new future. Wilkes-Barre can and will serve as a model of how vibrant communities overcome the twin challenges of shrinking demographics and aging facilities.

Sally and Larry Cohen | Friedman JCC Capital Campaign“We’ve lived in this community our entire lives, and our history at the JCC goes all the way back to the YMHA on Washington Street. We’re excited to invest in a modern campus, a brand-new facility that will position our community to thrive for many years to come. It’s time for all of us to get involved, give back, and ensure our future.”

Sally & Larry Cohen
Donors

Illumination Early Learning Center

Illumination Early Learning Center is Wyoming Valley’s newest and most innovative early learning center. It was developed by William Grant, founder of Hildebrandt Learning Centers, which grew to 40 Centers, operating at Princeton University, King’s College and throughout the Northeast. Illumination, a non-denominational learning center, welcomes children from all backgrounds, from infants to preschool. Its program includes outdoor nature-based play/learning areas, unique to the area and encompasses approximately 6,500 square feet.

The Center’s program philosophy is founded on a learning model which promotes all areas of a child’s development, including emotional, social, linguistic, physical, and cognitive. This model requires that all aspects of the program be focused on experiences based on the child’s developmental age and interests, their individual needs and learning styles, and on meaningful experiences that reflect the child’s cultural background.

In addition to providing a top-notch learning experience for the children and families of the Wyoming Valley, the resources generated by Illumination will help sustain the Friedman JCC.

Paula Chaiken | Campaign Leader | Friedman JCC Capital Campaign“When we first moved to the Wyoming Valley, the Jewish Community Center became my family’s second home. The activities and the people made 60 South River Street such a magical and welcoming place. Our family is wholeheartedly supporting the new Friedman JCC so that the community’s new hub can, moving forward, enrich the lives of other families.”

Paula Chaiken
Campaign Leader

Mitch & Taly Kornfeld | Friedman JCC | The Center For Everyone

Mitch & Taly Kornfeld

“We are both fortunate to have had strong JCCs in our communities as children. It’s important to ‘pay it forward’ just as our parents and grandparents did. It is clear that a vibrant JCC is integral to weaving a strong fabric in our Jewish community and our Wyoming Valley community as a whole. The Friedman JCC gives our Jewish community a place to gather, learn, play, eat, enjoy, and to share our religion and culture with each other and with our brothers and sisters of all faiths as well. We hope you will join us in supporting the Freidman JCC. Your support allows us to continue doing wonderful things for our whole Wyoming Valley community.”

Mitch and Taly Kornfeld
Capital Campaign Co-Chairs Final Phase

Contact Mitch and Taly

Creating the Friedman Jewish Community Center

The Friedman Jewish Community Center will become the new, central address for the Jewish community. It will be a catalyst for the revitalization of the region. The Center will reflect our history, embody our current dreams, and enable us to create a secure and exciting path for future generations.

The community successfully merged several agencies under the auspices of the Jewish Community Alliance (JCA). By consolidating organizations we have created a model that
will engage Jews of all ages, while remaining welcoming to all members of the community. Our major Jewish organizations will be centrally headquartered on Third Avenue in Kingston to create a place for a variety of community efforts. We will share resources in an efficient, sustainable model of partnership and progress, creating new possibilities for the future.

The Campus will be mixed-use. Our thirteen- acre complex will house what was the Jewish Community Center, the offices of the Jewish Federation, and Jewish Family Service. The site will also become a central location to encourage interaction among our synagogues and other Jewish institutions. Also expected to call the Center home will be medical, senior housing, and other services in adjacent facilities. These uses will all complement the philosophy of a modern campus setting. The architecture will respectfully pay tribute to our rich history while also integrating design elements that allow for future growth, as well as support the community financially on an ongoing basis.

The “crown jewel” of the Jewish community is our camp, also included as a major beneficiary of the campaign. Already planned are infrastructure investments as well as more vibrant programming designed to make the camp appealing to children of all backgrounds and ages.

Message from CEO

Gary Bernstein | Friedman JCC | The Center For EveryoneDear Friends,

As we look at our new facility and exciting program opportunities, our Staff & Lay Leadership recognize the importance of addressing and completing our capital building campaign goal.

The JCC has become known as a leader in community building and engagement, a legacy to be proud of today and for future generations to come. For seventy years the community has supported the Jewish Community Center, and the Center has responded by providing services and programs to many. In order to maintain our preeminent position as a multi-dimensional social services agency in Northeastern Pennsylvania, we must not only maintain our current levels of financial resources but seek to grow and develop new sources of financial support as well.

Everyday hundreds of members and participants enter our JCC and enjoy the benefits of extraordinary recreational, educational and social service facilities. Our leadership did a remarkable job raising close to 80% of our fundraising goal. It is now time to push through the finish line and complete the enormous task of completing our capital campaign fundraising.

Please reach out to me to explore  how you can help us reach our goal!

Thank you,

Gary

570-824-4646 x200  Email Gary

Donor Levels

Donors will receive recognition in special honor categories that pay tribute to their dedication and financial support.

Amount Name
$1,000,000 and above FOUNDERS
$500,000 – $999,999 CORNERSTONES
$100,000 – $499,999 PILLARS
$50,000 – $99,999 GUARDIANS
$25,000 – $49,999 SUSTAINERS
$10,000 – $24,999 ADVOCATES
$5,000 – $9,999 SPONSORS
$2,500 – $4,999 SUPPORTERS
Under $2,500 FRIENDS