Our Donors | Why They Do It
The Tuvins

“Here I am. If not me, then who?”

You may recognize this as the Hebrew phrase “hineni,” a declaration of someone’s willingness to serve. It is also the way that Karen Tuvin describes her work as a volunteer at the Mandell JCC and other local organizations.
“If I have a passion for something, I’m all in. What’s the point if I don’t stand up and actually take responsibility? As a volunteer and Board member at the JCC, I want to see our community embrace everyone. And so I must stand up and shape that outcome to make it happen.” she says.

“I want our JCC to be a place where everyone feels at home. I want to reach everyone-regardless of demographics or geography. I want there to be no barriers to entry. I want the JCC to be the center of community life, regardless of anyone’s denomination.”

This is an important component of Karen and Alan Tuvin’s decision to make the Mandell JCC one of their philanthropic priorities. “We want to make sure that the JCC remains. There is no Jewish community without the JCC, without a Jewish day school, without a kosher food market. Our philanthropic choices are part of an active thought process. And it is important to us that our kids also know the meaning of tzedakah.”
Karen shares that she and Alan “are modeling for their children Shira, Rami and Tali, the way her parents modeled for her.” She is proud of her parents’ involvement in the organizations they believed in, and she hopes that her children also feel proud of their parents. How could they not? Karen was recently named the Solomon Schechter Day School 2023 recipient of the Leah Berson Award for Excellence in Volunteerism.
The Tuvin’s began a family tradition of placing Magna-Tiles messages on their garage doors during the pandemic and have never stopped. For over 3 years, the family has been sharing holiday greetings and commentary on the zeitgeist with the aim of creating connections with their neighbors. For the family, who brainstorms each message at dinner, it is a ritual that has sparked family conversations about Jewish values and social justice. “We are very careful to instill in our children that we are not doing this for recognition. We want our kids to remember the way they are making people feel.”

The Tuvin kids have been fortunate enough to witness many other acts of tzedakah. The family has hosted 6 Israeli Scouts for the JCC, and are deeply engaged with Asif Peretz, the current Mandell JCC shalicha. They have maintained relationships with many of these Scouts, who are about to return the favor when Shira visits Israel. “These are experiences you can only get through the JCC.”

Karen grew up at the Baltimore JCC and it was only natural that she would seek out the Mandell JCC when she moved to the area. Despite living in South Windsor at the time, she enrolled her children in swim lessons and eventually the ECC. It was important that her children expand their social connections at the JCC, and like so many, they have maintained these friendships over their lifetimes. It wasn’t long before “we did everything at the JCC! We lived at the playscape, The Family Room and Jonathan’s Dream. My daughter is active in the JCC Youth Theater and all our kids attended Camp Shalom and were on the Swim Team. We spent endless Sundays at the JCC when the kids were younger. Alan coached basketball for 5 years and with the encouragement of (then-ECC Co-Director) Rhonda Wirth, I joined the Board in 2016.”
“I always thought the JCC was a wonderful nursery school, place for lessons and activities for kids, basketball and theater. This is all true. But, when I joined the Board, I really came to understand the importance of the JCC . The organization has very deep tentacles into so many aspects of our local community, and is incredibly inclusive while still maintaining Jewish values and identity.”

“I have been fortunate to use the JCC as a launchpad to get involved with the Jewish Leadership Academy where I had the privilege of visiting Israel with representatives of 15 other organizations. I recently attended the Phyllis Hoffman Jewish Film Festival with my daughter, and it was gratifying to see her participate in this acclaimed event. And I anticipate my children’s very first jobs to be as counselors at Camp Shalom which provides the important opportunity to attend a Jewish day camp.”
If the Tuvin’s were to create a Magna-Tile message about the Mandell JCC, they would sum it up in 5 words: “The Center of our lives.”