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12 netrnit lewigh News
JCC Campaign Tops $20 Million
"Young and old,
families and individuals,
will benefit from
this extraordinary
capital gift."
ere's a sampling of
what some commu-
nal leaders had to
say about the
Applebaum gift:
"This is consistent with
Gene," said U.S. Ambassador to
Norway David B. Hermelin,
who was home last week to
observe the High Holidays. The
ambassador will be part of the
Applebaum Campus Oversight
Committee.
"Gene always looked to the
future. He always felt the best
was yet to come. That's how he
built his company. He has always
invested in the future. Now, he is
making an investment in the
next millennium. This century
has been good to him and he
wanted to give something back.
"This gift is a meaningful
statement of what it has meant
to him. But it is also a very
thoughtful gift. Gene has a
knee-jerk reaction to do good."
In terms of the Millennium
Campaign, Hermelin added,
"This gift really helps move the
program forward. Gene is build-
ing for the future."
Lawrence Wolfe, Jewish
Community Center president,
said, "From the perspective of
the Center, the gift is of major
proportions. And that's also
speaking for the entire Jewish
community, not just for the
JCC.
"The gift really pushes the
entire Millennium Campaign to
a new level. And it serves a dual
Clockwise, From top left:
purpose. It will provide for
Ambassador David B. Hermelin
physical renovation and will
Lawrence Wolfe, JCC president
enhance endowment," said
Robert Slatkin, Foundation president
Wolfe.
Penny Blumenstein, Federation president
"As the campaign draws to a
conclusion, it should be a great
impetus. The Applebaum gift
Metropolitan Detroit. The other $25
will already put us over $20 million,"
million will be earmarked for Jewish
life experiences, especially Jewish edu-
said Wolfe.
The stated goal of the Millennium
cation.
Campaign for Detroit's Jewish Future
Renovations to the 24-year-old
is to raise $50 million — $25 million
West Bloomfield building will include
for Jewish Community Center build-
a new Jewish Discovery Area, the
ing improvements in both West
David and Marion Handleman Social
Bloomfield and Oak Park and creation
Hall and Auditorium, expanded child
of a $7 million permanent endow-
development facilities, and enhanced
ment for Jewish programming at the
fitness and recreation facilities.
Jewish Community Center of
Basic improvements totaling about
$1.5 million are anticipated at the
43-year-old Jimmy Prentis Morris
Building of the Jewish Community
Center on the A. Alfred Taubman
Jewish Community Campus in
Oak Park.
The 15-year-old Holocaust
Memorial Center next to the West
Bloomfield JCC will undergo $12
million in improvements that will
bring two new wings, more than
tripling the current size. Key new
features are the Museum of
European Jewish Heritage and the
International Institute of the
Righteous.
Also in the works for the West
Bloomfield JCC are more naviga-
ble corridors, "to make the build-
ing more accessible to more peo-
ple," Wolfe said. He sees those
improvements allowing "us to
physically enhance the building.
Right now, it is not friendly to the
disabled and elderly. We need to
provide more access to it for the
elderly, and for all ages," said
Wolfe. The building does not now
meet the Americans With
Disabilities Act standards for
handicapped access.
As president of the United
Jewish Foundation, Robert
Slatkin is technically the landlord
of the Applebaum campus and all
the facilities on it. Of the
Applebaum bequest, Slatkin said,
"This is really a wonderful event.
We are overjoyed by the naming
of the Applebaum campus. We
intend to run the campus over
the years in a way the
Applebaums can be proud of.
They are a wonderful family, and
now that they have given their
name to the campus, we have to
live up to it."
Echoed Penny Blumenstein,
president of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, "Time
and again, the Applebaums have given
of their resources to benefit the entire
Detroit metropolitan area. Young and
old, families and individuals, will ben-
efit from this extraordinary capital gift
to the Jewish community through the
Millennium Campaign.
"Through their generosity, they will
help us to create an enriching environ-
ment on a campus with activities that
encompass all phases of our lives."
•