Oceanside's Friedberg JCC unveils new buses

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The Barry and Florence Friedberg Jewish Community Center held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 9 to celebrate two new 16-passenger buses the facility received through funding from the New York State Department of Transportation.

The state approved the grant for the buses last March, which totaled $92,000, or 80 percent of the cost. The JCC’s board of directors, especially Joe Levin, provided the remaining $23,000, which will be used to enable more seniors and adults with disabilities throughout the area to participate in the many happenings at the Oceanside facility.

Executive Director Joni Center, who presented the buses, told the facility’s members that they would bring them to their “home away from home.” Previously working with one older bus, she added that now the vehicles could now take them to the center at night and on day trips to New York City and upstate, as well as bring them to doctor’s appointments and stores. There are lifts on the buses to improve accessibility for people of all abilities.

The facility offers a health and fitness center, physical therapy services, as well as educational and social programming, among other events and activities. Rockville Centre resident Judy Rothstein was the first member to take the new buses. “Taxis cost a lot of money,” she said, “and now I can get to my home away from home for free.”