FY17 Annual Report

Our Teen Action Service Corps (TASC) Leadership Program is designed to give teens skills for their futures. An important new component of TASC, TASC Inspire , was a powerful way to show teens how to apply those leadership skills and make a philanthropic impact on their community. Our first group of TASC Inspire teens spent their year fundraising to help support new and innovative programming at our very own JCC! This program was conceived and spearheaded with passion and commitment by Board Member Stacie Friedman. Stacie was looking for something that would help teach and inspire her own teenage daughters to give back to their community. TASC Inspire started with seed money donated by Stacie and her husband, Barry, a co-chair of the JCC Budget and Finance Committee. The teens were given the challenge to raise an additional $2,000; if they hit that goal, the Friedmans pledged a match. With that challenge before them, the teens held bake sales, a Spin-A-Thon and made personal asks to families. They exceeded their fundraising goal, received the generous match from the Friedmans, and then after hearing presentations from JCC staff, they allocated the raised funds to those JCC programs they felt best captured their five values: community, passion, acceptance, risk and responsibility. “Teens have the ability to step up and lead and the ability to take charge. Our TASC Inspire teens completely exceeded any goals I could have imagined.” – Stacie Friedman, JCC Board Member and TASC Chair ...our Senior Adult Department added a new film program, Clips from Flicks , designed to spark lively conversation and through old movies, provide “reminiscence therapy” proven to be effective for memory stimulation. With TASC Inspire Funds ...the Brody Family Early Learning Center will enhance their outdoor open-air classroom where children learn and discover. The Beneficiaries “It was important for me and all of my friends to get together and learn how to be leaders in a group setting rather than just on our own.” – Hayley Friedman, age 17 ...we will have a big family celebration complete with food, music and dancing in honor of Israel’s 70th birthday coming up in April 2018! WE LED BY EXAMPLE TASC INSPIRE ...we’ve expanded our programming for teens with special needs and have already hosted several Nights Out at the J for these teens which have been a huge success.