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!
“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.”
“The Center will be a more efficient and productive use of our changing resources . . . for years ahead.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“This project will revitalize so many aspects of Greater Wilkes-Barre.”
“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.”
“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.”