jccmilwaukee.org
The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, in partnership with the Bayshore Town Center and its philanthropic arm Olshan Outreach, brought Canstruction to the Milwaukee area for the first time in the program’s twenty-two year history.
Working to build healthier, happier communities, the nonprofit Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center (JCC), 6255 N. Santa Monica Blvd., offers an array of no-cost, paid and membership health, fitness, wellness, social, art and education programs for everyone, no matter one’s religion.
“We are founded on our values of treating people well and with respect. In reality, we are all 98% the same—we focus on that. Community can only happen when we all work together,” says the JCC’s president and CEO, Mark Shapiro. “We concentrate on the wellness of the whole person. We meet people in the community where they are and partner with other local nonprofits to help benefit those who need it most.”
To do this, the JCC counts on more than 1,000 volunteers annually to run events and programming at its seven sites. A few offerings include support, fitness and social programs for adults living with Parkinson’s disease; no-cost Rainbow Day Summer Camp sessions for kids from Children’s Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House and residents of at-risk neighborhoods; a Jewish Community Pantry (2930 W. Center St.), which served 22,000 clients in 2013; a community garden that grows and donates produce to the Jewish Community Pantry; and J-Shore at Bayshore Town Center, a program that offers free summer-fun family activities.
Volunteers are currently needed to help at the pantry (open each Thursday and third and fourth Sunday of the month) and community garden; at the JCC’s annual members’ pancake breakfast on Christmas; and in assisting the 80-100 kids in the nonprofit’s afterschool program through reading and homework help. In addition, the JCC will need more than 1,000 the week of Aug. 2, 2015, to assist with the JCC Maccabi Games and is currently fundraising to help support the event. Donations to the pantry as well as program sponsorships are always welcome. To learn more, call Harriet Rothman at 414-964-4444 or visit jccmilwaukee.org.
