Gural JCC launches Five Towns Friendly campaign

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Aiming to maintain what the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC is calling a ‘’friendly spirit,’’ the Cedarhurst-based organization has partnered with the Jewish Women’s Leadership Council on a new civic-minded campaign to make the Five Towns a much friendlier.

The Gural JCC is dovetailing the new campaign with a period of time known as the Three Weeks on the Jewish calendar, a solemn period that is an annual mourning period when Jewish people mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple.

The period begins with a fast day and concludes with the fast called Tisha B’Av, the date when both Holy Temples were set aflame. During this time, there is much reflection and introspection, self-improvement and thinking on how a person can improve the world

The Jewish Women's Leadership Council formed three years ago by a group of leaders in the Five Towns who take note of trends and challenges in the community and create ways to address them in an uplifting way. "We are thrilled to partner with such amazing women leaders to spread the message of love and kindness throughout the community," said Gural JCC Chief Executive Officer Aaron Rosenfeld.

Rachayle Deutsch, the cultural arts and education director at the Gural JCC, highlighted the campaign’s importance. “We figured once the fast is over, and the three weeks of mourning is over, we shouldn't lose focus and we should concentrate on our fellow man,” she said. “We should do something to be uplifting and positive and that's why we came up with this campaign. To keep our neighborhood, which we all love. To keep it a friendly neighborhood.”

The Five Towns Friendly campaign sprung from discussions on how to serve the community post-Covid and during the summer when people are apt to be out and about.

The three-week campaign was introduced by distributing bumper stickers outside of stores that featured campaign promotion signs in their front windows. “It's a three-week campaign that follows those three weeks but it's hopefully something that will be impactful,” said Deutsch.

Community members can also send in a photo of themselves or a good deed they have done during the campaign period for some prizes.

“We gave suggestions like helping a neighbor or giving someone cold water on a hot day,’ said campaign co-chair Margie Glatt. “Real gestures that make people smile and make people feel seen and appreciated.”

Calling the Five Towns “bustling, unified, busy, vibrant community,” Glatt said: “As the neighbors are coming back out of their houses, we're encouraging people to learn their neighbors' names and recognize their service professionals. Be more cognizant of their driving and normal neighborhood actions to make it more polite, more pleasant, and fun to be at.”

From people sending in photos of them with friends and sharing what they have been doing, grandkids shopping to helping a neighbor in a local store the campaign has put an emphasis on instilling good values, good morals and positive, proper actions.

“It's great to be to get the whole community involved in little things,” said Deutsch. “We'd all like to see more smiles on the street, and more attentiveness to each other. We love our neighborhood and we think it's great but there's always room for improvement.”

People can send their photos of good deeds to Fivetownsfriendly@gmail.com and learn more about the JWLC through JWLC5T.org.