JCC camp director likes feeling of going to camp, even at age 33

Palm Beach Post, July 26, 2012
Rachel Fox has been going to summer camp since she was in kindergarten. And, even at age 33, she can’t think of a better place to be.

The Palm Beach Gardens resident is the director of Camp Shalom at the JCC of the Palm Beaches in Palm Beach Gardens and Boynton Beach, where she coordinates activities, registration and programming for hundreds of children entering kindergarten through 10th grade.

And keeping 600 kids busy, happy and safe is no easy task. That’s why Fox begins planning for the 10-week camps in September.

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Center plans to reach growing Jewish population

Palm Beach Post, April 25, 2012
A plan to spend $30 million to build a new Jewish Community Center and Arthur I. Meyer Jewish Academy is scheduled to go before the city council May 3.

The one-story, 56,000-square-foot JCC building with a preschool serving up to 192 students would open next year on Hood Road. The 41,600-square-foot academy building would be built on the same property to serve up to 500 students.

The existing K-8 school on Military Trail in West Palm Beach plans to stay open until the new building opens in 2014.

Paul Gross, 76, has been president of the Jewish Community Center for about two years. The New Jersey native owned his own insurance company, The NIA Group, until two years ago. He and his wife, Gayle, have been married 56 years.

Q: Why north county for the new Jewish Community Center?

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Concentration camps survivor's tale brings urgency to Holocaust Remembrance Day

Palm Beach Post, April 20, 2012
The day was nearly 70 years ago, but George Salton remembers it vividly. His parents left their ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland for a factory farm in the Ukraine - but left their 14-year-old son behind.

Salton's parents thought it would be better for him if he stayed behind, and that they'd be reunited down the road. The Nazis thought differently. Salton ended up in one concentration camp, then nine more, and never saw his parents again.

"My heart trembles when I think about if they knew what lie ahead," Salton, now 84 and a Palm Beach Gardens resident, told a crowd of about 150 people who gathered today at the Ross Jewish Community Center to observe Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began at sundown Wednesday and ended at sundown today.

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Board OKs rezoning for JCC

Palm Beach Post, April 12, 2012
A recommendation to rezone about 14 acres of vacant property for the $20 million Mandel Jewish Community Center and Arthur I. Meyer Jewish Academy was passed Tuesday by the city's planning, zoning and appeals board. The rezoning, from planned development area to planned unit development, must be approved by the city council.

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JCC to open a 'place' for special needs adults

Sun Sentinel, April 11, 2012
What happens to those who are mentally handicapped when they turn 21? Do they continue to live with family or go to a special care facility?

Randie Hoffman is trying to help parents when their special needs child hits this important age.

Hoffman's daughter Fara, 21, is also mentally and physically challenged, diagnosed with microcephaly, a neuro-developmental disorder, when she was born.

Hoffman was told her daughter would never walk or talk because of the condition but she said Fara has friends and continues to try to live a normal life every day.

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Camp Shalom (Palm Beach Gardens)

Palm Beach Post 2012 Summer Camp Guide
Why choose Camp Shalom? Great location. Highly trained and caring staff. Low staff-to-camper ratios. Happy, welcoming, nurturing environment.

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Casino Night raises $20,000

Palm Beach Post Notables, March 21, 2012
More than 150 guests spent an evening playing blackjack, roulette, craps and more. After an evening of friendly competition, guests exchanged their chips for raffle tickets for a chance to win prizes in the ‘Winner’s Circle.’ Among the donated prizes were tickets to the Honda Classic Bear Trap...

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$15M JCC plans to include school

Sun Sentinel, March 12, 2012
Plans to move the Arthur I. Meyer Jewish Academy to the campus of the $15 million Jewish Community Center proposed for Hood Road have been submitted to the city of Palm Beach Gardens.

The 310-student school would be a part of the complex with the JCC that would have soccer and softball fields. Plans call for a gym with two basketball courts and an outdoor pool. Day camps would be offered in the summer and pre-school during the rest of the year. A vegetable garden for children to learn about growing food is also planned on the 16-acre site.

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New Mandell JCC on schedule; $1 million given for gallery

Florida Weekly, March 8, 2012
The groundwork is being laid for construction of the new Jewish community center, to be known as the Mandel JCC, on Hood Road just west of Central Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens. The effort has received a major boost with a $1 million gift, announced Feb. 28, from Bente S. Lyons and the late Daniel Lyons of Palm Beach Gardens.

The new building’s gallery will be named the Bente and Daniel Lyons Gallery. The glass-enclosed space will be used for art presentations, receptions, meetings and other events.

It will be part of a 56,000-squarefoot building and complex named for the JCC’s major benefactor, the Mandel Foundation — Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel — which provided a $5 million grant toward the $16 million project.

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Jewish Community Center plan to include Meyer Academy

Palm Beach Post, March 6, 2012
Plans to move the Arthur I. Meyer Jewish Academy to the campus of the $15 million Jewish Community Center proposed for Hood Road have been submitted to the city.

The 310-student school would be part of a complex with the JCC that would have soccer and softball fields. Plans call for a gym with two basketball courts and an outdoor pool. Day camps would be offered in the summer and pre-school during the rest of the year. A vegetable garden for children to learn about growing food is also planned on the 16-acre site.

"The school and JCC will have a strong partnership. We expect to be a community center for all the public," Gross said.

The JCC submitted preliminary plans a year ago. Updated plans show a one-story building to be about 56,000 square feet. The proposed two-story Meyer building is about 70,000 square feet. A final vote of the city council is expected by June.

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Bestselling authors headline book luncheon

Society Scene, February 2012
This year's Ross Jewish Community Center (JCC) book luncheon featured a sold-out crowd of nearly 300 guests eager to hear Cokie and Steve Roberts, New York Times bestselling authors known for their dynamic political commentary on major networks. Held on Jan. 12 at the Delaire Country Club in Delray Beach the couple discussed their new book, Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families, which shares details of their own marraige and family life.

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Sitting down with Edith Steindler, co-chairwoman for the Ross JCC luncheon on Jan.12

Boynton Forum
How did you get involved with the JCC?

“I have been volunteering all my life and active in the Jewish community one way or another. I am very interested in the Jewish community and this luncheon is part of Jewish Book Month.”

Who are Steve and Cokie Roberts, the special guests for the lunch?

“They are very popular media figures. The book they have written concerns an interfaith family over Passover and how they have managed to be successful in raising their family to respect the wishes of both religions.”

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Opening Night of the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival Honors a Local Hero During the Sold-out Show

The Jewish Voice
The Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival kicked off its 22nd season on Dec. 7 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts with the powerful, inspirational film, Music of Remembrance: The Boys of Terezin. More than 750 guests at the sold-out screening were moved by the tale of the young boys who wrote poems for a secret magazine during the Holocaust while imprisoned by Nazis, then smuggled the works from the ghettos of Terezin after the war.

The guest of honor was Sidney Taussig, a Lake Worth resident who was one of the subjects of the documentary. He received a standing ovation from the crowd for his heroism.

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JCC Brings Back Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival for 22nd Year

The Jewish Voice
The popular and provocative Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival returns Dec. 7 with an appealing array of cinema that will light up theatres across the county for 12 days.

The long running festival enters its 22nd year with a lineup of 35 films from seven countries in six venues stretching from Palm Beach Gardens to Wellington to Delray Beach.

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Jewish Film Fest Aims to Lift Profile

Palm Beach Daily News
When a festival reaches the age of 22, it might be time for a revamp. The Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival that will unspool Dec. 7 - 18 at theatres throughout Palm Beach County retains its essential mission of screening Jewish-themed films from around the world.

But, like a Hollywood remake, it's reinvented itself with the aim of broadening its appeal. Among the changes: increased use of expert hosts to introduce the movies; the addition of classic films; more family-friendly films; and an opening night at the Kravis Center's Cohen Pavilion.

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JCCs Feature Books and Authors

Florida Jewish Journal
The Jewish Community Centers in North and South Palm Beach counties have a multitude of Jewish Book Festival events beginning this month and running through April.

The Adolph and Rose Levis Jewish Community Center's Cultural Arts department line up includes authors such as Evan Fallenberg's "When We Danced on Water," Pam Jenoff's "The Things We Cherished" and Meg Wolitzer's "The Uncoupling." Fallenberg, Jenoff and Wolitzer will appear together at the JCC's annual book and author luncheon on Nov. 15 at 9 a.m. at the Boca West Country Club, 20583 Boca West Dr.

"Our book and author luncheon is a wonderful day for book lovers," said Myrna Lippman, chairperson of the Levis JCC Jewish Book Festival. "We have three outstanding authors and while they are there to promote their books, they also tell us how they chose to become writers and about their craft. The books we have selected for the luncheon are concerned with the topics of relationships between husbands and wives, life in Israel and moments that have an impact on our lives."

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Balance and Stability at the Ross JCC

OnSite Fitness, October/November 2011
Shawn McDougall, Director of Health, Fitness, Wellness Education at the Lore and Eric F. Ross JCC in Boynton Beach, FL offers a class that addresses the "golden rules of posture," focusing on the basic principles of Pilates. With a large senior demographic, the JCC "helps the participants become more aware of proper ergonomics while sitting, standing, and lying down."

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JCC Announces Viewing Schedule for the Acclaimed 92nd Street Y Series

South Florida Weekender
The JCC of the Palm Beaches will welcome via live telecast two impressive speakers this fall as part of the NYC-based 92nd Street Y main reading series. During the presentations, guests hear from some of the country's most intriguing and influential people as they share their stories. Guests can also submit questions to the speakers. The following presentations will be held at the BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens.

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'It's about time' for chaplains' monument

Florida Jewish Journal
After a nearly three-year effort by Jewish veterans groups and political organizations, a bronze monument with the names of 14 rabbi chaplains who died in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War will be installed on Chaplains Hill in Arlington National Cemetery next month.

It will join monuments to Protestant and Catholic chaplains and the chaplains who died in World War I.

Before going to its permanent home, the monument went on view at several Jewish venues in the tri-county area.

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Bond forged by basketball bolstered by Israel trip to play in Maccabi Games

Palm Beach Post
Most people would consider themselves fortunate to continue to be close, years later, with friends they made in pre-school. But for a group of boys who attended the JCC Maccabi Games in Israel this summer, the bond was only strengthened.

Among a group of 16 Palm Beach County teens who went to Israel are six boys who play basketball together. They have been doing so since they were about 6 years old.

Adin Jacobs, Parker Fine, Daniel Brown, Matthew Rott, Adam Ketchem and Seth Fortinsky, all still in diapers at the time, first met at the Ross JCC preschool west of Boynton Beach.

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Teens 'transformed' by Maccabi Games

Florida Jewish Journal
Dozens of local teens returned from participating in the summer JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest, the first ever held in Israel, "transformed" by the experience.

"It was really fun and cool," said 14-year-old Adin Jacobs, a basketball player from Boynton Beach, who was part of the JCC of the Greater Palm Beaches delegation. "Israeli teens are just like American kids."

Approximately one thousand Jewish teens from all over the U.S., Canada, Israel and South Africa took part in sporting events and arts festival from July 24 to Aug. 5 in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. Final competitions and performances were held in Jerusalem.

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Palm Beach teen wins bronze medal at JCC Maccabi Games

Palm Beach Daily News
Palm Beacher Alexandra Kaye made sure the JCC of the Greater Palm Beaches’ Maccabi delegation didn’t come home empty-handed from the 28th annual JCC Maccabi Games, which were contested Aug. 8-13 in Baltimore.

With the basketball team finishing one place out of medal contention in what also is known as the Jewish Teen Olympics, Kaye, a sophomore at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, won a bronze medal in tennis.

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Palm Beach Gardens JCC to include indoor soccer, meditation area, cafe

Palm Beach Post
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Indoor soccer, a small cafe, a wellness program and an outdoor mediation area are part of the plan for the $15 million Jewish Community Center on the northeast corner of Hood Road and I-95.

"This will be a vibrant building that will be a focal point for not only Jewish community events, but for all faiths," said Michelle Lobovits, executive director of the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches.

Ground breaking for the 47,000-square-foot center is expected in February. Construction will be in two phases and take about a year, said Lobovits. The JCC paid about $4 million in February for the vacant 14-acre parcel.

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Special Camp Receives Needed Funding

Sun Setinel, Special to the Florida Jewish Journal
More that 200 children gathered recently at Duncan Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens, the temporary home of JCC North Camp Shalom and Camp Tikvah, as leaders from the Pythian Youth Foundation presented a check for $4,000 for the special needs camps in both Palm Beach and Boynton Beach.

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Balance and Stability at the Ross JCC

OnSite Fitness August/ September 2011
“The Balance and Stability class came about from the need to meet our member needs,” says Shawn McDougall, Director of Health, Fitness, Wellness Education at the Lore and Eric F. Ross JCC in Boynton Beach, FL.

“Of course in South Florida we have a large senior demographic. Nearly 70% of our members are above the age of 65. We provide three complimentary appointments for new members, one of which is a Senior Fitness Test."

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Collection under way for third annual school uniform drive

Sun Sentinel - July 6, 2011
Look the recipient of goodwill in the eye and see the gratitude.

She's referring to her work organizing the third annual School Uniform Initiative in Palm Beach County.

"What's happened is a couple years ago, one parent lost their job," she said of the growing need. "Now both parents lose their jobs and more kids are needy."

When President Obama came into office, Wilkerson noticed a public service day that was spawned and decided to get together with some other like-minded residents to start collecting school uniforms for students in need.

"The first year we got 400 to 500," she said. "Last year, we collected 1,400."

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'Zumbathon' benefits Ross Jewish Community Center's Wellness Club

Sun Sentinel - July 6, 2011
Latin music blared from a loudspeaker. The music was so deafening that conversation was impossible, but no one seemed to mind. They were there to dance — and sweat — to help make a difference.

"I like to dance and I wanted to support a good cause," said Sara Ingles.

Ingles was one of more than 150 enthusiasts who turned out for the Ross Jewish Community Center's first "Zumbathon" in Boynton Beach. The event was a fundraiser for the JCC's Pink Ribbon Wellness Club, a program designed for cancer survivors and patients to add physical activity to their lives.

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Holocaust survivors bring their music to a new generation

Sun Sentinel-  June 29, 2011
Consider the generation gap bridged.

A local Yiddish music group, the Shtetl Zingers, sang for almost 100 young campers at the Ross Jewish Community Center, 8500 Jog Road, last week.

The concert doubled as a $500 donation the JCC's food drive, which also helps the Community Caring Center of Boynton Beach.

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The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson: Boynton Beach JCC hosts local participants

Palm Beach Post - June 14, 2011
More than 100 children jumped into a Boynton Beach pool Tuesday morning, joining thousands around the globe taking part in a simultaneous swimming lesson that organizers hope lands them a spot in the record books and roots swimming safety messages in the minds of millions. The local effort was sponsored by Boca Raton-based Quality Swimming Inc. The event, billed as the second annual World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, began here at 11 a.m at the Lore and Eric F. Ross JCC on Jog Road.

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JCC Kids Help Break World Record

WPTV News Channel 5 - June 14, 2011
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - More than 200 kids gathered at Boynton Beach's Lore and Eric F. Ross JCC to participate in a Guinness World Record swim lesson Tuesday morning. About 25,000 kids in 48 states and numerous countries across the globe started the world's largest swim lesson at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. Andy Broido is the owner of Quality Swimming, Inc. and she said this worldwide effort was about promoting water safety.

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Pink Ribbon Wellness Club

Onsite Fitness - June/July, 2011
The Lore and Eric L. Ross JCC in Boynton Beach FL offers a wonderful fitness, wellness and support program for breast cancer survivors called the Pink Ribbon Wellness Club. Each week for twelve weeks participants meet twice for a 60-75 minute session of fitness classes including water therapy, cardio, strength and yoga, they also discuss nutritional considerations and enjoy massage therapy as well as a supportive group atmosphere. The program is partially funded by a grant from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. OSF spoke with Shawn McDougall, Director of Heath, Fitness and Wellness Education at the Ross JCC about this phenomenal program.

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Architect chosen for JCC campus in Palm Beach Gardens

TCPalm - May 19, 2011
The Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches has announced West Palm Beach-based Tercilla Courtemanche Architects, Inc. led by René Tercilla and Lance P. Courtemanche, will serve as the project architects for the JCC North in Palm Beach Gardens.

The firm was selected from seven teams who submitted proposals to design the new 40,000-sq.-ft. facility.

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Architect chosen for JCC campus in Palm Beach Gardens

Larry Ferber Distinction: Director of the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival

Palm Beach Post - May 13, 2011
Larry Ferber began his career working with Regis Philbin, went on to become executive producer of several popular talk shows - including shows featuring Joan Rivers and Sally Jessy Raphael - worked as a consultant for The Food Network, and produced shows for Lifetime.

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PB Country Club Foundation donates $20K to JCC camps

TCPalm - May 10, 2011
The Palm Beach Country Club Foundation recently presented a $20,000 grant to The JCC of the Greater Palm Beaches for the Claire & Emanuel G. Rosenblatt Camp Shalom in Boynton Beach and the Leonard and Sophie Davis Camp Shalom in Palm Beach Gardens. The grant was presented by foundation board member Lionel Greenbaum, to the JCC’s executive director, Michelle Wasch Lobivits, and its president, Paul Gross.

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Peggy Brown’s $1 million gift brings JCC closer to its $15 million goal
        
         Palm Beach Daily News - Sunday, April 24, 2011
         Peggy Brown knows from déjà vu.

         Half a century ago, Brown, a native of Washington, D.C., was among the community leaders who recognized
         that the Jewish Social Service Agency’s longtime site in Washington wasn’t effectively serving its demographic.

         “Fifty years ago in D.C., the Jews moved to the suburbs to raise their kids,” Brown said from her home
          in Palm Beach. “The agency needed to move in the same direction.”

          read the entire article >>

JCC receives $1 million donation for facility

Florida Weekly - April 2011
The JCC of the Palm Beaches announced that Peggy S. Brown, a Palm Beach resident, has pledged $1 million to its capital campaign to build the JCC North in Palm Beach Gardens. The gift is from her family foundation, The Alvin I. and Peggy S. Brown Family Foundation. The JCC’s new facility is scheduled to begin construction in early 2012. The auditorium at the JCC North will be named after Ms. Brown, who has been involved with Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches for years as a board member and philanthropist, the JCC announced in a prepared statement. She has been generous supporter with the JCC’s children’s scholarship and cultural arts programs over the years, the group noted. Ms. Brown, whose husband, Alvin, passed away in 2010, is most passionate about children’s services.

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Jewish Journal - April 13, 2011
Every seat in the room at the Ross Jewish Community Center in Boynton Beach was taken on an April 4 afternoon, as those gathered waited to hear author Michael Hirsh begin his lecture on his latest book, "The Liberators"The book is a compilation of first-person narratives with more that 150 American soldiers who liberated the Nazi death camps at the end of WWII.

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Mandel brothers give $5M to build Jewish Community Center
in Palm Beach Gardens

Palm Beach Daily News - March 17, 2011
A gift from a foundation with Palm Beach ties has brought the Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches much closer to its fundraising goal for a new center in Palm Beach Gardens.

The JCC announced Thursday a lead gift of $5 million from the Cleveland, Ohio-based Mandel Foundation. Morton Mandel, foundation chairman, has a home in Palm Beach, as do his brothers, Jack and Joseph.

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JCC plans new facility on 14 acres in Palm Beach Gardens

TCPalm - March 9, 2011
The Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches has contracted to purchase 14 acres in Palm Beach Gardens just off Hood Road, west of Central Boulevard, in order to build an estimated 37,000-square-foot facility to better meet the demands of the growing Jewish community in Northern Palm Beach County.

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JCC plans $15 million cultural center in northern Palm Beach County

Sun Sentinel - March 2, 2011
Following the growth of the Jewish population to northern Palm Beach County, The Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches has planned a $15 million facility for arts and recreation off Hood Road.

"There is no Kravis Center, no Norton Art Gallery in north county. We want to be the cultural center for everyone in north Palm Beach County," said Paul Gross, president of the JCC board of directors.

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JCC of the Palm Beaches to buy 14 acres

South Florida Business Journal - March 1, 2011
The JCC of the Palm Beaches has taken the first step to building a new 37,000-square-foot facility in Palm Beach Gardens. The organization said it plans to buy 14 acres just off Hood Road, west of Central Boulevard, for about $4 million.

Next, the JCC will kick off a $15 million capital campaign to pay for construction of the center, which it said is needed to meet the demands of the growing Jewish community in northern Palm Beach County.

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Food drive helps fill pantries to feed families in need

Boynton Beach Forum - February 23, 2011
People usually give to food drives during the holiday season but forget the families need food throughout the year. Children sit with their stomachs grumbling andwonder why their mother and father are arguing over how to obtain their next meal.

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Education academy celebrates lifelong learning 

Sun Sentinel - February 23, 2011
What if there was a place, Practically in your own back yard, where you could expand your horizons; keep yourself active, current and feeling young; make new friends and become more involved in the community.

Well there is. It's called the Academy of Continuing Education and it's not further away than the Lore & Eric F. Ross Jewish Community Center in Boynton Beach.

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Camp, Comedy, and Cocktails

More than 125 people recently laughed, mingled, and mixed during a laugh-out-loud performance by comedian Joel Chasnoff at "Camp, Comedy, and Cocktails," a fundraiser to support Camp Shalom, the JCC of the Greater Palm Beaches summer day camp.

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JCC to buy land for north county campus

The Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches has contracted to buy 14 acres in Palm Beach Gardens for $4 million for a new north county facility, officials announced Friday.

JCC studies have indicated that the Jewish population is shifting from West Palm Beach to the north. The new complex, to be built on a site off Hood Road west of Central Boulevard, will be situated closer to that growth, officials said. The center’s north branch operates in temporary quarters in Midtown Plaza in Palm Beach Gardens.

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