Mazel tov

The nonprofit brought together its members and donors for an event last week, at which a project called “70 Years, 70 Stories” debuted and will be on view at the campus art gallery throughout the year. CEO Paul Geduldig said the organization has been collecting stories of its past and interviewing members, including one who was a PJCC regular in the 1950s as a child, staff members who met on the job and married in the 1970s, camp counselors who ran summer programs decades ago when the organization was located in Belmont and even a 3-year-old attending the PJCC’s preschool today.

The campus is home to state-of-the-art fitness facilities — its biggest daily draw. It includes two pools — one indoor and one out — a gym, spa and cycle studio. The locker rooms recently saw a $1 million renovation, which brought additional family changing rooms.

“We want to make sure we stay fresh and competitive with the boutique fitness centers,” Geduldig said.

Community art shows, concerts featuring everything from classical music to a mambo orchestra, and guest speakers are a regular occurrence at the center — most recently about 400 people turned out for an evening with diplomat and author Dennis Ross. One program provides postoperative workouts to help breast cancer patients recover, another offers free rides for seniors to doctor appointments or the grocery store, and others include day trips, art and culinary classes, film screenings and more.

Thousands can pass through the PJCC’s doors on a given day and Geduldig said it’s not uncommon for members to spend their entire day at the self-contained center.

It also offers a cafe and volunteer-managed vegetable garden which, over the past four years, has produced 3,000 pounds of produce that’s donated to the LifeMoves homeless shelter in San Mateo.

Fresh produce hadn’t been on the menu for those families — only canned vegetables — in 10 years before the program began, said Laura Toller Gardner, chief marketing and membership officer.

Members are concentrated in Foster City and San Mateo, but come from all over the Peninsula and recently East Bay commuters have been signing up as well. The center also attracts many Israeli immigrants working in Silicon Valley.

“We’re finding more and more Israeli immigrants are coming here for many of the same reasons my grandparents came to JCCs when they first arrived — as a way to stay connected to Israeli culture, speak Hebrew and meet other people who have moved to the area,” Geduldig said.

As the center’s membership and programming continues to diversify, it remains committed to its Jewish identity.

“We want to make sure we maintain our role and relevance as a Jewish organization and that will be as a convener for the Jewish community, but also to introduce and educate the broader community about Jewish life, history and culture and to create opportunities for cross cultural understanding and partnership,” Geduldig said.

It organizes a program that brings together people of Muslim and Jewish backgrounds, for example and, in December, programming will focus on Hanukkah as well and its connection to other festivals of light.

Geduldig said the center is looking to expand outdoor fitness classes and programs for seniors, whose membership numbers are expected to rise as housing for residents 55 and up is being built across the street. And staff is also beginning to consider uses for the last of its undeveloped land, which could include additional outdoor community space, a theater or youth lounge, to name just a few ideas.

“It feels good to be here, you see people enjoying themselves and being genuinely enriched by their experiences and the idea of a place where people of all ages are gathering is especially rewarding,” Geduldig said.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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