may be well-known for the thousands of Hug Packs they have put together and distributed to foster children in ourcommunity over the past 13 years, many in the community may not know that this same group played an important role in establishing Jewish Family & Children's Services over 60 years ago.
Parents of children who are just starting school have probably attended one of the Kindergarten Festivals that the NCJW Long Beach Section has hosted, while Jewish college or vocational program students who are residents of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County may be beneficiaries of the NCJW Long Beach Section's scholarship program.
In the 1960s, the NCJW Long Beach Section launched the Jewish Friendship Club for Seniors, which became the forerunner to the Senior Adult program at the JCC, while also participating in an interfaith effort to assist low income women in obtaining jobs.
This remarkable organization has
This same group played an important role in establishing Jewish Family & Children's Services over 60 years ago.
assisted in establishing the Head Start program in our local schools, worked with Casa Youth Center and the Women's Shelter, provided tutoring in local elementary schools, held Blood Donor drives in collaboration with the Red Cross, volunteers at Miller's Children Hospital, hosts workshops to explain topical political issues prior to elections, holds food and clothing drives for Centro Shalom, and so much more that even a listing of their highlighted accomplishments over the past 70 years can go on for pages.
Perhaps the very best news about the NCJW Long Beach Section is that their volunteer and advocacy work continues. Meeting monthly, they continue to advocate on behalf of important progressive issues