JCC of S.F. closing in on mammoth fund-raising goal

Friday, July 26, 2002 | by

JOE ESKENAZIBulletin Staff

"It's not how you start your campaign that matters, but how you end it," he said.

"We've had unprecedented support from our major donors in the Jewish community, both new and old. But this is a community center; it belongs to everyone. We need a broad base of support and a lot of people for us to be a success."

The JCC has already received 25 gifts of $1 million or more, with hopes to reach its goal via contributions from thousands of community members—and not necessarily the Jewish ones—who utilize the center on a daily basis.

Before the demolition of the JCC's old building at 3200 California St., as many as 3,000 patrons a day crossed in and out of its doors. Now located in a temporary site in the Presidio near 15th Avenue and Lake Street, the center has seen numbers decline by about one-fourth without the draw of its on-site fitness center.

The membership decline has cost the center roughly $1.1 million during the year since it moved to the Presidio, while rental costs run an additional million dollars a year. The JCC also offers seniors programs at another site on Walnut Street.

"We serve from the wealthiest to the poorest in the Jewish community, and also serve all segments of the non-Jewish San Francisco community," said Levine. "We're very proud of that; we think that makes us an effective Jewish community agency. It makes us open and welcome to everybody. Part of our [fund-raising] efforts will be going to families who use the center but are not Jewish and asking them to help us serve all of San Francisco."

The JCC moved out of what Levine characterized as its "dilapidated, tired, undersized" old facility in August 2001, and anticipates staying in the Presidio until December 2003, when the new facilities are completed. The new JCC—on the grounds of the old structure, but augmented by the acquisition of several adjoining properties—will be twice the size of its previous home and will also feature three stories of underground parking.

The $79.5 million campaign goal includes nearly $57 million earmarked for construction, $5.5 million in transition costs, allaying a debt of another $5.5 million and establishing a $9.5 million endowment.

Augmenting current preschool, child care, teen, senior and recreational sporting programs, the center plans to open an adult Jewish education program, a 500-seat theater and an expanded health and wellness program.

"Since this campaign started, several people from our senior program have come to my office periodically. They've put aside money: $39 one week, $18 another week," said Levine. "People feel this is their community center."