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Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte‘DEWISH ^^NEWS
Vol. 4 No. 7
Charlotte, North Carolina
August, 1982
Foundation Campaign Readies $2f774,000
Since June 21st, 80 new
gifts have boosted the cam
paign total for the Project by
near a half-million dollars
according to Campaign
Chairperson, Harry S.
Swimmer.
Swimmer said, “Our
parlor meetings have been an
enormous success in making
this progress, and we will
continue to hold them
throughout the campaign.
“Almost 200 people have
been contacted through these
meetings. The response has
been so great that we have
been able to spend more time
individually than we thought
we would, so we can’t get to
everyone all at once. But
with the dedication and en-
thusiams of all the workers,
you can be sure everyone
Drive to Aid
Immigrants
The Federation urges all
members of the community
wishing to donate furniture,
clothing, and appliances to
contact Nicole Leonardez at
Goodwill Industries (372-
3434)to arrange for pick-up.
For many years the
Federation sought and ob- .
tained such donations from
the Jewish community for
use in resettling Russian
Jewish families. With the
Soviet Union having effec
tively closed the doors to
emigration, the need for fur
nishings has almost come to
an end, but there is always
the possibility and hope for
future need. Arrangements
have therefore been made
with Mr. Mike Elder, Ex
ecutive Director of Goodwill
Industries, a non-profit.
United Way-sponsored
organization, to accept dona
tions and to credit the
Federation with the right to
draw similar items out of
their general stock on hand
should the Federation need
to do so in the future.
Sally Schrader, who has
chaired the Russian Reset
tlement program, said, “It
was always a necessary
hardship for us to borrow
trucks and find kind souls to
let us store piles of furniture
in their garages or
warehouses. Now, Goodwill
will do the picking up,
donors will still receive their
(Continued on Page 4|
In The News-
will be hearing from us.”
Swimmer said work on the
Project has brought about
the realization that the com
munity needs more oppor
tunities to get together and
to know one another better.
He cited the recent Fourth
of July picnic and fireworks
viewings and the upcoming
August 8 adult ice cream
social — both sponsored by
the Foundation institutions
— as examples of times for
togetherness.
' “These are not fund
raising events. They are
purely social occasions. The
new friendships being made
during this whole enterprise
of working on the Project
need to be cultivated. And,
we chose to attach a per per
son charge for the events so
that we could assure you
your pledge would go entire
ly toward the Project itself,”
he added.
Swimmer encouraged at
tendance at the parlor
meetings. Anyone interested
in attending one of the
meetings - normally held in
Ice Cream Social
Aug. 8.1982
sponsored by
Foundation
$2/person
RSVP
/
JCC Swim Team
Has Winning Season
The Jewish Community
Center Swim Team finished
the 1982 season with a 4 to 3
winning record. For the first
time since the JCC was
established in 1975, the JCC
enjoyed a winning season.
The team placed fourth in
the Final League Relay
Meet.
The teams the Swim Team
won against were Candle-
wyck, Waverly, McClintock
and Windrow.
To celebrate this outstand
ing season, the Swim Team
will hold its Annual Swim
Team Banquet on Thursday,
August 26 at 6 p.m. at the
JCC. Reservations are need
ed for the Banquet no later
than Friday, August 20.
Swim Team members attend
the banquet at no charge.
Fees for other family
members are $1.75 for
children under 5 years old
and $2.25 for everyone else.
Call the JCC (366-0357) to
make your reservations.
Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.
..p. 1
Book Reviews
Bulletin Board ....
..p. 8
Calendar
..p.ll
Candle Lighting
..p. 2
Claasified Ads
..p.ll
Editoriala
..p. 2
Focus On Israel
..p. 9
For the Record
..p. 3
JCC
. p. 6-7
L’Chaim
..p. 6
Lubavitcher Rebbe
.. p. 10
This ’n That
.p. 6
World Beat
.p. 4
a private home on a week-
night — should contact
Swimmer at 333-6694 or the
Foundation Office, 366-0366.
The fund*raising campaign
is targeted for completion by
December, with ground
breaking ceremonies at the
site tentatively planned for
April 17, 1983.
“It’s really easy for us to
be confident at this point
when we’ve made such good
progress,’’ Swimmer said.
“But we can’t let the momen
tum lag even a little bit.
Each one of us needs to do
his or her part to make the
dream a reality. We’d ideally
like to wrap this campaign
up before December. And
with everyone’s help I
believe we will.”
The Executive Commit
tee and the Board of Tern*
pie Israel have passed the
Foundation agreement
with some corrections to
be made. There will be a
congregational meeting in
the next few weeks to vote
on the project.
Thanks to Use Bergen
The Jewish Community
Center of Charlotte and the
members of Chai appreciate
the many years of devotion
and service Has (Mrs. Fred)
Bergen has given to the Chai
group. Mrs. Bergen has serv
ed as volunteer program
director of the group. Her
presence will be greatly
missed by one and all.
By Adam Bernstein
With her resignation from
the “Chai” group now of
ficial, Use Bergen hopes that
in the future the Jewish
Community Center will give
a higher priority status to
the seven-year-old senior
citizens’ group that she is
leaving. Sitting on a small
patio behind her Stonehaven
home, Bergen talked of her
experience with Chai; her
role in its birth, its pro
blems, its needs, and its
rewards for her.
Her hands sometimes em
phasized a point voiced in a
slightly German-tinged ac
cent. Once, a pointed finger:
Another time a sweeping
hand whose breeze gently
pushed aside a leaf on the
sprawling geranium set on
the glass table.
Bergen left the “Chai”
group after seven years of
work toward creating a pro
gram that would meet the
needs of Jewish senior
citizens in Charlotte.
“Chai” evolved as a JCC
program from a letter that
Bergen wrote to Sol Shapiro
during the formation of the
Center in 1975.
After noting the steady ex
odus of Jew'sh adults in
their early sixties from
Charlotte to the con
dominium lifestyle of
Florida, she became concern
ed about the lack of senior
citizen activities and pro
grams in the city.
This concern, coupled with
her desire to have a.pleasant
and rewarding retirement
with her husband Fred,
prompted Bergen to write the
letter and suggest the
establishment of some sort
of program at the new Center
for older adults.
Bergen said that she
waited for someone in the
community to create such a
group before the founding of
the JCC, “but it just never
did materialize and I thought
the “J” would be a good
place to start.”
“It was a problem that I
was actually thinking about
in the future for ourselves,
too, and for the rest of the
Jewish community,” she
said.
Bergen eventually attend
ed the open house at the
JCC, and was later asked by
Marvin Bienstock to help
create and head the “Chai”
group.
Through the years the pro
gram has remained virtually
unchanged. A class taught
by a Central Piedmont Com
munity College instructor is
given on Monday morning,
and a special program is of
fered in the afternoon.
The classes have included
current affairs and “The
History of American Folk
Music,” while the programs
range from cooking presenta
tions to lectures and movies.
Bergen expressed her
pride in the “Chai” group by
noting that it is the only sel^
supporting senior citizen’s
group that she was aware of
and that it has contributed
from $7,000 — $10,000 from
its annual raffle to the JCC
since its establishment.
Membership has been as
high as 40 in the past, but is
presently at 30 active
members, she said. The one
nagging problem that Bergen
(Continued on Page 101