Photos co urtesy o f Mort Plot nick Big new gifts bring the Jewish Community Center's campaign past the halfway mark. LONNY GOLDSMITH StaffWriter fter almost a year of fund- raising in the community, the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit has gotten a big boost from the outside. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation in Baltimore has delivered a $2 million pledge while a meeting for Detroit snowbirds nesting in Boca Raton, Fla., earned a surprise $500,000 towards the JCC's $25 mil- lion capital and endowment campaign. The Weinberg gift benefits the $7 million endowment effort the JCC has made a priority (the $18 million bal- ance of the $25 million goes to bricks- and-mortar improvements). The endowment would generate $825,000 Lonny Goldsmith can be reached at (248) 354-6060 ext. 263, or by e-mail at: lgoldsmith@thejewishnews.corn. 1999 6 Detroit Jewish News a year to enhance programs beyond revenues from memberships and fees. The Weinberg gift is a matching grant. For every $1.25 million raised for endowment, the JCC will receive $500,000 from the foundation. "The more commitments we get, the more we get from them," said Hugh Greenberg, chairman of the capital campaign. He said the JCC has already received the first $500,000 install- ment. Founded in 1959, the Weinberg Foundation focuses on capital cam- paigns, building construction and ren- ovation, endowment funds and matching grants. It ranks among the top five Jewish philanthropic organiza- tions in the country. Left. A crowded living room at Dan and Betty Kahn's Boca Raton home. Above: Mark Davidoff Hugh Greenberg, Dan Kahn, David Sorkin and Larry Wolfe at the Kahn's. In the fiscal year that ended Feb.( 28, 1997, it had more than $1.2 bil- lion in assets and gave nearly $57 mil lion in grants. It ranked 26th and 24th in those respective categories among foundations in the U.S. For their gift, the names of Harry and Jeanette Weinberg will be attached to what has been the library of the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building of the JCC in West Bloomfield. The 2,000-volume facility will become the Jewish Resource Center with multimedia capabilities; it will move from the lobby into what has been the execL tive suite. The foundation pledge came early last month; the successful snowbird meeting was Feb. 16. The Kahns, whose $3.6 million donation last year got the JCC cam- paign rolling, opened their home in the St. Andrew's subdivision of Boca Raton to more than 70 native Detroiters.