JCC changing its name in honor of the Kaplens

As of Sept. 1, the JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly will formally become the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in honor of Maggie and Bill Kaplen, who committed $5 million through their family foundation to help the JCC launch a capital campaign to support major facility improvements and renovations. The Kaplen gift is the single largest donation the JCC has ever received.

Bill and Maggie Kaplen

Bill Kaplen said of the gift, "When you see what you’ve been able to accomplish and you understand its full effect on the people it was intended to affect, you’re not really engaging in philanthropy anymore. You realize that you haven’t really given anything away. You’ve multiplied what you had a hundred times over and kept it for yourself."

The JCC will be undertaking a major facility upgrade that includes ”,000 square feet of new construction, with the primary emphasis on reconfiguring existing space to allow for a better integration of services. In addition to renovations and refurbishment, the plan calls for a consolidated pre-school and nursery program, an enhanced youth and teen center, expanded rehearsal and performance space for the School of Performing Arts; state-of-the-art new fitness centers and gyms; and other upgrades.

"The Kaplens are widely recognized as leading philanthropists in our Jewish community, and as founding members of our JCC they have been passionately devoted to our mission," says JCC Executive Director Avi Lewinson. "We are extraordinarily grateful for their gift and their belief that our center will grow and flourish and continue to serve as the heart of our community. It is this type of loyalty and passion that leads to positive change and we are proud to name our facility in their honor."

For more information about the campaign, call Elliot Karp, (’01) 569-7900, ext. ’51, or e-mail ebkarp@jccotp.org.

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