Director of JCC Association-Florence
G. Heller Research Center Will Present Findings from New Study
New York, NY, July 20, 2007 – In a boost
to its summer programs for children and teens, JCC Association,
the New York-based continental umbrella of the JCC Movement,
has announced the addition of two national corporate sponsors
that will provide kosher-certified snack foods to resident
camps and teens participating in JCC Maccabi Israel travel
programs, the JCC Maccabi Games® and JCC Maccabi ArtsFest®.
As the lead corporate sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company®
will continue to supply water, PowerAde® and soft drinks,
as well as financial assistance to the Games, which this year
enter their 25th season, and to ArtsFest, now in its second
year.
The Games, the centerpiece of the JCC Maccabi
Experience, has attracted up to 6,000 Jewish teens, 13 to
16 years old, to a week-long annual gathering that blends
an Olympic-style sports competition with Jewish identity and
community-building activities. JCC Maccabi ArtsFest, launched
in 2006, provides a similar experience for Jewish teens engaged
in the fine and performing arts.
Just Born, the maker of jelly candies certified
by the Orthodox Union under the brand names MIKE AND IKE®,
HOT TAMALES®, ZOURS®, Teenee Beanee® Gourmet Jelly
Beans, and Just Born Jelly Beans, began its association with
JCC Maccabi Games and JCC Maccabi ArtsFest last year. This
year, Just Born has expanded its kosher candy distribution
to JCC Association’s 26 resident (overnight) summer
camps and to JCC Maccabi Israel, a teen and young adult travel
experience.
Thou Shall Snack, a Seattle-based producer
of a new line of Jewish tradition-inspired snack food, will
offer Games participants 1-oz. bags of its signature Latke
Crisps™, an all-natural, bite-sized baked item. Based
on a recipe that company founder and president, Jill Ginsberg,
learned from her Grandma Rose, Latke Crisps have the authentic
taste of potato pancakes in a low-fat snack with zero trans-fat.
The single-serving bags will go to the three Games sites in
Orange County, California, Houston, Texas and Baltimore, Maryland.
The contributions of Just Born and Thou Shall
Snack, both national companies, supplement the food and beverages
that traditionally have been donated by local businesses,
said Games director Lenny Silberman. “We want to help
the local host communities because it is such an enormous
undertaking,” he remarked. “We are thrilled that
participation in the JCC Maccabi Experience and summer camp
programs has grown to the extent that they have, but that
has made it increasingly challenging for host communities
to attract the support they need locally.”
Added JCC Association Vice-President of Development
Fani Magnus Monson, “We anticipate that the addition
of Thou Shall Snack and Just Born will be the beginning of
a long-term relationship, not just with these two exciting
national corporate sponsors, but with others as well.”
Thou Shall Snack, for example, has made support
of the Jewish community a corporate priority. “We are
a young company, established in 2005, and the athletes, coaches
and parents attending are all part of our target market,”
said Ginsberg. “We are gratified by the support that
the Jewish community has shown for our products, so we like
to do what we can to support the community and the values
it represents.”
The Jewish values of tzedakah, social justice,
and tikkun olam, repairing the world, that have become associated
with the Games and with ArtsFest (each year, participants
engage in Days of Caring and Sharing, social action projects
to benefit the local communities) are highlighted in Thou
Shall Snack’s “Thou Shall Give Back” program,
said Ginsberg. “We’ve made a commitment to donate
five percent of company profits to nonprofit (mostly Jewish-affiliated)
organizations and agencies. In the nine months we have been
in business, Thou Shall Snack has provided free snacks to
Sunrise Day Camp, a program for Jewish children with cancer;
special community events, such as the New York Jewish Film
Festival, UJA Federation Super Sunday; and to the Jewish Museum
in New York, synagogues and other Jewish institutions around
the country,” she noted with pride.
At Just Born, a 70-year-old family-run
manufacturing concern in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, social responsibility
has always been key to the corporate ethos. With a guiding
philosophy that states, “We believe the legacy we leave
must be the one we would want to find,” employees are
eligible for up to 24 hours of paid time off every year to
participate in local community service projects. In addition,
Just Born contributes funds to more than 150 social service
and charitable organizations in the Lehigh Valley and donates
candy to about 300 other groups there and around the country
each year.
Reporters/Editors: For photographs and
sources for feature stories, call JCC Association Communications
Manager Miriam Rinn at (212) 786-5092 or e-mail miriam@jcca.org.
###
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
520 8th Ave., NY, NY 10018
212-786-5092
fax: 212-481-4174
send an e-mail
Back to Press Releases |
Privacy policy | Contact
us | Home
|
