JCC Association Presents Awards to Outstanding Contributors to JCC Movement
New York, NY May 16, 2008-JCC Association presented the Frank L. Weil Award to Edward H. Kaplan and the Florence G. Heller Professional Award to Avrum Cohen and Solomon Greenfield, three extraordinary individuals, at this year's JCCs of North America Biennial in Miami, Florida. The Frank L. Weil Awards were established in 1950 in the name of JCC Association's late leader, who served with brilliant distinction as president of the Jewish Welfare Board from 1940 to 1950. They are presented for distinguished contributions to the Jewish Community Center field. The Florence G. Heller Award was established in 1968 to honor the memory of JCC Association's beloved former leader, and it is presented to an exceptional JCC professional.
Edward H. Kaplan 's extraordinary civic-mindedness has been recognized repeatedly with numerous awards. His humane concern for others reflects the deepest community values of the JCC Movement. A lifelong resident of the Washington , D.C. area, Kaplan became a JCC enthusiast in the 1950's when he attended Saturday night rooftop dances at the JCC of Greater Washington. He later served as president of the agency where he established the award-wining Institute for Jewish Learning and sponsored the first staff study mission to Israel , among other innovative programs. He also was responsible for the addition of a new early childhood wing at the JCC.
Kaplan has also been actively involved in national and international organizations se rving the Jewish community, currently serving on the board of directors of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the board of trustees of United Jewish Communities, the international board of governors of Hillel, and the board of overseers of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He has served as national vice-chair of the United Jewish Appeal and on the boards of the Council of Jewish Federations, United Israel Appeal, and the board of governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel .
Avrum Cohen , former general director and CEO of the JCCs of Chicago , has devoted his life to the JCC Movement and the profession of Jewish communal service. Starting as a youth worker in the Chicago JCC system, Cohen went on to be the director of the children's division there. Moving to New Orleans to earn his Ph.D. from Tulane University , he became the assistant executive director at the JCC of New Orleans. After serving as executive director there, Cohen took over the leadership of the JCCs of Greater Los Angeles. He moved to Dallas in 1990 to become a federation executive before returning and taking on the JCC executive director role back in Chicago in 1997. In every place he lived and worked, Cohen shared his enthusiasm and expertise with the larger Jewish community and the community at large, serving on committees and boards and immersing himself in all the institutions that help communities thrive. Throughout his career, he fought for the highest professional standards through the Conference of Jewish Communal Service, the National Association of Jewish Center Workers, the National Association of Social Workers, as an instructor at Tulane's School of Social Work , and as a scholar in residence to the JWB's New Workers Training Institute. Avrum Cohen personifies the highest ideals of Jewish communal service.
A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Social Work, Solomon Greenfield arrived at JCC Association in 1971, and served as director of personnel services and as a community consultant for the southern area before becoming associate executive director. Greenfield came to JCC Association following service as executive director of the Atlantic County, New Jersey JCC, and as assistant executive director of the Syracuse JCC in New York . While at JCC Association, Greenfield continued to work closely with the executive directors of metropolitan-area JCCs. A scholar and proponent of the highest professional standards, Greenfield is a past vice-president of the Conference of Jewish Communal Service and also acted as chair of the 1985 International Conference of Jewish Communal Service. He is the author of several articles on Jewish Community Center practice, including The World, The Workplace and the Worker, Perspectives on Executive Function, The Jewish Community Center: Making our Dreams Come True, and Enhancing Center/Federation Relations.
All three award recipients honor and enrich the JCC Movement.
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JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
15 E. 26 St., NY, NY 10010
212-786-5092
grounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also a U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
The NFL Youth Football Fund (YFF) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization
founded by the National Football League and NFL Players Association
in 1998 to use football as a catalyst to promote positive
youth development. Through the YFF, hundreds of thousands
of youngsters have been given the opportunity to learn the
game of football, get physically fit, and stay involved in
productive after-school activities with adult mentors. The
YFF also provides youth football participants with safe and
accessible places to play, as well as programs and initiatives
that address the importance of proper coaching, academics,
health and safety, and life skills development.
fax: 212-481-4174
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