J Life Magazine October-December 2018 oct-dec-18-jlife | Page 4

Speaking of teens, The J is the home to BBYO, which
in the past 5 years has grown from 8 members to over
60! BBYO can be found here at The J each and every
Monday night. Also part of our teen engagement
strategy is building up our delegation to the JCC
Maccabi Games®. This past summer, we had two teens
join in the games in Orange County, and we have a
goal of recruiting 15 teens for the 2019 JCC Maccabi
Games® in Atlanta!
Some of the partnerships that The J is helping to lead
within the Jewish Community include: For the past 20 years, The J has been a full partner
with the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona
in creating the Weintraub Israel Center. The level
of Israel related programming continues to grow.
Currently, we have 3 classrooms in early childhood
in a “twinning” relationship with our partnership
community in Israel and we proudly work with our
Shinshanim in multiple ways throughout the school
year and over the summer. Over the past 5 years,
we have sent over 20 staff to Israel to participate
in professional development and people to people
learning sessions.
THE SPECIAL ABILITIES TASK FORCE – A
PROJECT FUNDED THROUGH A SERIES OF
GRANTS PROVIDED THROUGH THE JEWISH
FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA AND
JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF
SOUTHERN ARIZONA ALIGNED PROCESS. In the past year, The J has provided over $750,000
in scholarship - making membership, camp, early
childhood education, and after school care available
to individuals in our community who need a little
help to access the amazing programs and services
that The J has to offer.
In order to execute this strategy, we work actively to
form partnerships and work collaboratively amongst
the departments at The J. We also focus on working
with our partners within the Jewish Community and
in General Community. We recognize that we are at
our best when we are working together.
J PRIDE – A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN JFSA AND
THE J.
HEBREW HIGH – AS A PART OF OUR ROLE HERE
AT THE J, BOTH JENNIFER SELCO AND MYSELF
ARE FACULTY AT HEBREW HIGH DURING THE
2018–19 YEAR. I AM SITTING ON THE TASK
FORCE TO HELP REIMAGINE HEBREW HIGH
FOR THE FUTURE.
MOISHE HOUSE WITHOUT WALLS (MHWOW) –
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MICHELLE BLUMENBERG
FROM HILLEL, THE J ACTS AS AN ADVISOR TO
THE MHWOW GROUP IN TUCSON. CURRENTLY,
KATIE SPECTOR, THE J ARTS AND CULTURE
PROGRAM MANAGER IS FILLING IN WHILE
NEW LAY LEADERSHIP IS SOUGHT.
J TAG – A COMMUNITY INITIATIVE TO BRING
ALL JEWISH TEENS TOGETHER FOR TWO
DISTINCT OPPORTUNITIES A YEAR, THE FIRST
BEING A BOARD AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING
PROGRAM AND THE SECOND A SOCIAL
PROGRAM FOR ALL TEENS TO CELEBRATE YOM
HAATZMAOUT.
4 J LIFE
The J earns 90% of the income we need to operate
each year through membership dues, program
services fees, and facility rentals. The other 10% needs
to come through some form of contributed income.
In real dollars, that amount is in the neighborhood of
$800,000. In order to achieve this, we need your help.
Please consider supporting the J through our Friends
of the J appeal or join our Stars of Giving Society. You
can also consider supporting one of our program
areas directly.
The J is the town square of our community, please
help us continue to provide the wonderful programs
and services that our community has come to know
and love and help us to support the over $750,000 in
financial aid that we provide each year.
As we conclude the holiday, let’s look forward to a
year of health and p