From Our CEO: Together at Passover

Over the next two weeks, we will celebrate Passover and Easter, two holidays that foster a sense of togetherness. In particular, the story of Passover tells us that, even when facing great adversity, when we join together, we can overcome hardships. No matter what struggles we face, we can persevere if we all work as one.
 
As we come together as one community, we continue to be there for those who need us. Last Wednesday, we hosted two major events to serve different needs in our community. We worked with the Borough President’s office and VitaCare Pharmacy once again to vaccine 400 people.
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In the spirit of community cooperation, our staff and partners pitched in to make sure everything ran smoothly. When we needed an additional person to administer the vaccines, the Borough President’s Director of Health & Wellness, Dr. Ginny Mantello, jumped into action. We are grateful for our partners’ continued support in helping vaccinate our community.
 
At the same time that vaccines were being given out inside the Bernikow Building, we hosted a Passover food distribution outside in the parking lot. Through a partnership with COJO, Project Hospitality, UJA, and Met Council, we were able to provide over 800 Kosher for Passover food packages to those in need.

In addition, during the food distribution, we received a donation for our food pantry for our friends at Temple Israel. This generosity will allow us to feed even more families this holiday season.
It was amazing to see all the people we were able to help through these initiatives, and it underscored the importance of the work we do every day. We will continue to work with our community partners to serve those in need throughout this pandemic and for years to come.
 
As we move into the holidays, we will take a short break to celebrate and reenergize so that we can continue this important work throughout the spring and summer. On behalf of our JCC family, I wish you a happy and healthy holiday season.