60 Seconds On Our Campaign
Construction Well Underway in New Albany!

Editor's Note: To keep JCC members and friends current on the "It Begins With the Children - But Starts With You" campaign, the JCC is introducing a 60 Seconds On Our Campaign section of this newsletter and the newsletters at all three preschool sites. Click here to read a first-hand account by Preschool Director Nancy Thoman of the excitement growing at the JCC New Albany Preschool as the construction gets underway. Future 60 Seconds editions will discuss the planned projects at the JCC North and JCC College Avenue Preschools. For more information on the project or how to make a contribution to the "It Begins With The Children" campaign, contact Carol Folkerth at(614) 559=6223.

Preschool is Gateway into Jewish Community

The excitement was so great, one could almost hear the shouts of joy all the way from New Albany to Berwick, as the walls started going up on the JCC New Albany Preschool construction site - just a few short weeks after the groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 5.

Laura Weiser, whose son, Aden, is a graduate of the JCC New Albany Preschool, and whose younger son, Ethan, currently is enrolled there, said the JCC preschool has given her family an entry point into the Columbus Jewish community.

"As a newcomer to the greater Columbus area, the JCC preschool has been more than just a place for my children to get a Jewish education," she said. "It has served as our family's point of introduction and continued connection to the broader Jewish Community. Providing our children with a Jewish preschool experience within their own neighborhood has fostered their cultural identity as well as provided them with tangible evidence of the commitment of their parents and others to making New Albany a place for Jewish life."

Weiser said the new campus - and the financial support toward its construction through the "It Begins With The Children" campaign - is important to her family. "Our family has made the realization of this project a priority because we desire a place where we feel at home with others in our neighborhood," she said.

"We support the idea that children learn about themselves and their culture, whether by making shofars on Rosh Hashanah or having real time discussions, via the internet, with children in Israel. A North East Jewish Community Center Campus will recognize, encourage and sustain the continued growth, in the northeast area, of a vast number of young Jewish families with these same beliefs."

The New Albany project is due to be completed during the summer 2009, with an opening date of Fall 2009. Here is what is going on with the other two phases of the "It Begins With The Children" campaign:

JCC Northwest -
JCC Executive Director Carol Folkerth and members of the JCC Northwest Pre-School Planning Committee have spent the last six months investigating several buildings to purchase for a new northwest location. The team is optimistic that they will identify the right building. Look for future updates on the new Pre-school home for Northwest community members!

JCC College Avenue -
We hope to have plans finalized on the proposed new indoor playspace to be constructed for our children. The 1,600 square ft., multi-purpose space will provide children with appropriate play space and equipment for year-round activity. Look for future details on this exciting addition!

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