LETTERS
%JEWELERS
Veterans to house their memorabilia in
our West Bloomfield facility.
For the record, the JCC and the JWV
have had a long, strong, ongoing rela-
tionship. Over the years, the JCC has
opened its doors for JWV meetings,
special events, displays and commemo-
rations. In the past 3V-, years, we have
welcomed and met with the JWV more
than two dozen times about this partic-
ular concern.
Secondly, the JCC leadership has
repeatedly voiced its desire to provide
space in its D. Dan and Betty Kahn
Building for these historic materials. At
the same time, the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, of which we are a
constituent agency, and its real estate
and investment arm, the United Jewish
Foundation, join the ICC in its desire
to provide a proper repository for these
important items. In fact, our renovation
plans include a large meeting room
which has been earmarked to house
some portion of the IWV collection.
However, we are unable to move for-
ward with this plan because our capital
fund-raising efforts have not reached
our desired goal.
Third, and most important, is that
the JCC did not request payment from
the JWV in the amount of $250,000.
Rather, that sum represents a naming
opportunity on behalf of the JWV.
When a donor is found and the time is
right to proceed with the renovations,
i.e., we have reached our capital fund-
raising goal, a room will be designated
for the JWV. I have related this infor-
mation to all I have met from the veter-
ans' organization.
We understand the JWV's frustration
in seeing their request for a home at the
JCC for their materials come to
fruition. Certainly, we would like the
renovation process to move more quick-
ly as well, but renovations, particularly
to a building the size of the Kahn
Building, do not happen overnight; they
are phased in over a period of years. We
have already been in the throes of such
work for three years, providing much
needed improvements to both of our
locations, and we expect that the bal-
ance of these renovations will take
another three years. Regrettably, the
meeting rooms, where we will designate
a place for the JWV, are in the final
phase of this process.
The JWV is an important part of our
history and a significant part of our
future. We are proud of the role our
Jewish servicemen and women played
in defense of our country in particular,
and freedom in general, and hope, in
the foreseeable future, to provide a
meaningful testimonial to their bravery
and valor.
David H. Sorkin
12/28
2001
6
32940 Middlebelt Road Farmington Hills, MI cT
website: www.
executive director, Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan Detroit