They say that lightning never strikes the same place twice. But for the Mandell JCC, lightning did strike twice when married duo Ted Kaplan and (Roberta) Bobbie Woronow both served as dynamic Board presidents.
Ted’s engagement with the JCC began with Biddy Basketball when he was 11 years old and still continues to this day. His parents were active in the local Jewish community, and Ted would follow in their footsteps. After Ted and Bobbie got married, Bobbie arrived in Hartford in 1979 and in 1984 she enrolled their daughter, Lauren, in the two year old program at the ECC which “had the reputation as the best place for childcare in Greater Hartford”. Their son, Alex, would later follow his sister at the ECC and at many other programs and activities such as, Campareenah, Camp Shalom and swim lessons. While Alex loved Biddy Basketball, Lauren pursued theater and pottery.
Bobbie began to volunteer with the ECC committee and would go on to join the board in the mid 1980’s, working on the camp committee and playing an instrumental role in revising the bylaws and mission statement. Early on, as a board member, she was recognized with the Young Leadership Award presented by the Jewish Community Center Association.
When it came time to hire a new JCC Executive Director, Bobbie immediately recommended David Jacobs, who had been Hartford’s JCC Associate Director, many years earlier. At the time of David’s recruitment he was serving as Executive Director of the Rochester JCC. “David returned and hit the ground running. This is when the JCC really started to flourish.” Bobbie’s relationship with the JCC also flourished, assuming the Board presidency in 2007. Under her tenure, the JCC opened the Hoffman Fieldhouse and new fitness center. Bobbie identified the need for the JCC to begin actively fundraising. She, David, and Joyce Mandell launched the Pillars Society as part of the JCC’s annual giving efforts, which helped to stabilize the revenue of the organization and create ongoing donations that could be counted on every year.
After years of involvement with Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation, as well as the JCC’s building committee, Ted joined the Board toward the end of Bobbie’s tenure and became President in 2011. Ted worked with the Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament, which provides programs and services to individuals and families, regardless of financial resources. As the JCC enjoyed major growth, Ted recognized the need to bring best business practices to the organization, instilling robust goal-setting, metrics, benchmarking and accountability into the management of the JCC. He continued Bobbie’s focus on annual giving and looked ahead to planned giving programs. He helped to kick-off a 5 year long-range plan and then continued work to achieve many of the goals it set forth.
For Ted, “the JCC is a community in the general sense and the Jewish sense; a meeting place for families and friends.” Bobbie says “the JCC feels like home. It is a warm and friendly neighborhood that is comfortable and non-judgmental.” Ted shares that they support the JCC because “it is so valuable. All of the services, including education, special needs, senior programs, and health and wellness, live under one roof. We want to make sure that the organization is strong and maintains its vitality for future generations.” Bobbie adds that “the JCC has adapted for decades to meet the needs of our community, regardless of background. Of all the Jewish organizations, the JCC has benefited our family the most and has made the most impact on our general community. For me, that is the difference.”
In 2015, Ted and Bobbie were supporters of the Aim Chai Campaign, making a substantial lifetime gift to the Mandell JCC. They are also current members of the 1915 Legacy Society because “we want to help support the JCC for future generations so that they may benefit as we have benefited. We want to demonstrate to our family and friends the value of giving back to the community, not just providing for one’s family, but for so many others as well.”
“We are not looking for anything in return, we feel blessed to be able to do it.” The couple puts it this way: ”What would our community be like without the JCC-without the community outreach, the programs for those with disabilities, for seniors, for families? You could never replicate how the JCC has supported our community for over 100 years.”
And what would the JCC be without Ted and Bobbie? You might say that when these two dynamos decided to support the Mandell JCC, we caught lightning in a bottle.
