It was a summer of meaningful milestones at the Weinstein JCC, with community recognition for its programs, new support for inclusive summer camp, success on the athletic stage, the celebration of Marcus Weinstein’s 100th birthday and remembrance of a longtime volunteer leader whose commitment to the Center spanned four decades.
Richmond Magazine Honors JCC Programs
The Weinstein JCC once again earned multiple honors in Richmond Magazine’s annual Best & Worst awards, including Best Preschool Education and Best Afterschool Program for the 16th consecutive year. The Center was also recognized among Richmond’s best for its membership gym, summer camp programs and youth enrichment classes.
The honors reflect the Weinstein JCC’s longstanding commitment to fostering a deep sense of belonging through a holistic approach to youth development. Its Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool encourages hands-on exploration, curiosity and discovery, while its afterschool program provides a safe and engaging environment where children can build friendships, explore diverse activities and develop new interests.
Earning two “Best” honors was particularly meaningful as the Center approached a historic milestone of its own.
“This recognition is especially meaningful as we prepare to celebrate the Weinstein JCC’s 80th anniversary this fall,” said Michael Blanchard, Senior Director of Marketing & Member Experience. “For eight decades, we’ve had the privilege of serving Richmond families of all faiths and backgrounds, and we’re honored by the trust they continue to place in us.”
Supporting a Summer Camp Where Everyone Belongs
That commitment to belonging was also reflected this summer through Voices Together, the Weinstein JCC’s inclusive summer day camp for children who are neurodivergent. The Center received a grant from KOVAR to help support the program and the families it serves.
Voices Together continued to experience strong demand this summer, expanding to a fourth week. Its comprehensive support model brings together professional staff, teen peer mentors and specialists to create a supportive and structured environment tailored to individual needs.
Campers participate in the kinds of experiences that make summer camp memorable—swimming, music, science, art and indoor and outdoor recreation—while developing confidence, friendships and independence. Teen peer campers play an important role in that experience, helping foster meaningful connections while developing their own leadership and interpersonal skills.
The program has also benefited from specialized support and community partnerships, including occupational therapy doctoral students from VCU, licensed occupational therapists, music therapy, activities with Beyond Boundaries and an on-site inclusion specialist.
Founded in 1971, KOVAR is a Virginia Knights of Columbus charity dedicated to improving opportunities and quality of life for Virginians with intellectual disabilities.
“KOVAR’s support means so much to our Voices Together families,” said Stephanie Sulmer, Director of Development. “Every child deserves the opportunity to experience the friendships, joy and sense of belonging that come with summer camp. This grant helps us provide the individualized support that makes those experiences possible, and we are incredibly grateful for KOVAR’s investment in our campers and families.”
The grant helps ensure that more young people can experience something every child deserves: the opportunity to make friends, try new things, build confidence and know they have a place where they belong.
Team Richmond Brings Home the Medals
Richmond teens also had plenty to celebrate this summer at the 2026 JCC Maccabi Games in Kansas City, held Aug. 2–7. All four members of Team Richmond returned home with medals.
Esther Shoenfeld earned gold in girls basketball, competing with athletes from Sid Jacobson JCC and Chicago; Sloane Grossman earned bronze in volleyball with teammates from Memphis, North Carolina, Jacksonville and Minnesota; Cameron Lucci captured gold in tennis doubles; and Jonathan Galper earned silver in boys tennis.
“To have all four of our Richmond athletes come home with medals is an incredible accomplishment, and we couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Nick Pruden, Youth & Specialty Camps Director. “But Maccabi is about so much more than what happens on the court or field. These teens get to represent Richmond, connect with Jewish peers from around the world and experience what it means to be part of something bigger than themselves. Those are the memories and relationships they’ll carry with them long after the medals are put away.”
The JCC Maccabi experience has long extended beyond competition, bringing Jewish teens together through athletics, friendship, leadership and Jewish identity, with an emphasis on sportsmanship, respect, joy, Jewish peoplehood and tikkun olam—repairing the world.
For Team Richmond, the week provided another opportunity for local teens to represent their community while building relationships with Jewish peers from across North America and beyond.
Celebrating Marcus Weinstein at 100
The summer also brought an extraordinary milestone on Saturday, August 22, when Marcus Weinstein celebrated his 100th birthday.
After decades as a leader in the business world, Weinstein has brought many of the same principles that guided his professional life to his commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy. Just as customer satisfaction has been a cornerstone of the Weinstein family’s business endeavors, a desire to improve the lives of others has remained central to the family’s community involvement.
Marcus and his wife, Carole, have supported numerous causes over the years, with a particular commitment to education, the preservation of Jewish history and strengthening the greater Richmond community. Few places demonstrate that commitment more visibly than the Jewish Community Center that today bears their names.
Their relationship with the Center spans decades. A generous gift from the Weinstein family during the Richmond Jewish Community Campaign helped substantially upgrade and transform the JCC’s longtime Monument Avenue home into the first-class community facility enjoyed by thousands of Richmonders today. In recognition of their extraordinary commitment, the organization became the Carole and Marcus Weinstein Jewish Community Center.
Their support has extended well beyond Monument Avenue. The Weinsteins made significant contributions toward the renovation of Camp Hilbert, completed in 2014, helping strengthen a beloved summer tradition that has served generations of Richmond children. They also provided buses for use by the Center and Camp Hilbert, supporting access to the programs and experiences the JCC provides.
More recently, Marcus and Carole, together with the Weinstein-Jecklin family, continued that legacy through their leadership and generosity in the Center’s Building a Bright Future Together Capital Campaign.
The community-wide campaign raised $11.6 million from more than 300 donors, funding a sweeping transformation of the Monument Avenue campus. The project included refreshed and expanded preschool and afterschool spaces, a completely reimagined wellness wing and Fitness Center, upgrades to the indoor Aquatics Center and improvements to the lobby, auditorium, community meeting rooms, gymnasiums and group exercise studios.
“Marcus and Carole’s impact on this Center is almost impossible to overstate,” said Brad Finkel, CEO of the Weinstein JCC. “Their generosity has helped transform our campus and expand what we are able to offer our community, but Marcus’ legacy is about much more than philanthropy. He has always understood that strong communities depend on people being willing to invest in one another. As we celebrate his 100th birthday and prepare for our 80th anniversary, we hope his example inspires each of us to think about the ways—big or small—we can make a difference.”
The campaign represented another chapter in a story the Weinstein family has helped shape for decades: investing not simply in buildings, but in the people, programs and experiences that bring those spaces to life.
Yet Marcus Weinstein’s impact on the Center cannot be measured solely in buildings, renovations, buses or dollars contributed. An equally important part of his legacy has been his desire to inspire others to give back and his belief that meaningful philanthropy can take many forms.
His example carries a simple message: people do not need to make transformational gifts to transform a community. Giving might mean contributing financially in ways large or small, volunteering time, sharing professional expertise or a personal talent, supporting a cause close to one’s heart, or simply showing up for someone who needs help. What matters is finding a way to contribute that feels meaningful.
Remembering David Kalman
That same spirit of service was embodied by David Tovin Kalman, a former Weinstein JCC Board President and longtime community volunteer leader who died Aug. 12 at age 68.
Kalman’s connection to the Weinstein JCC stretched back more than 40 years. Beginning his volunteer service in 1986, he served the organization in numerous capacities, including leadership through the Center’s Operations and Budget committees before ultimately serving for two years as President of the Board from 1998 to 2000.
His service did not end with his presidency.
Over the decades, Kalman remained deeply engaged with the Center and brought his organizational and operational skills to some of its largest community undertakings. For the 2005 JCC Maccabi Games in Richmond, he chaired the Security Committee, helping coordinate emergency-response and security planning for a weeklong event involving more than 1,100 teenage athletes and venues throughout the Richmond region.
When Richmond again hosted the Games in 2010, Kalman served as Vice Chair of Operations, overseeing teams responsible for conduct, security, food, medical services, facilities, athletic venues and transportation. The role reflected both his attention to detail and his willingness to take responsibility for the behind-the-scenes work required to bring a major community event to life.
The Center recognized his service over the years. In 1994, Kalman received the LeRoy B. Goldberg Leadership Award, honoring sustained commitment to the function, purpose and well-being of the JCC and demonstrated leadership as a volunteer. In 2001, he received the Esther, Edith & H.J. Bernstein Volunteer Award for significant volunteer service to the Center’s programs and purposes.
Even decades after first becoming involved, Kalman remained connected to the organization as a committee member. His commitment also extended to the Center’s future through membership in its Monument Society, recognizing those who have included the JCC in their estate plans or established an endowment to help sustain the organization for generations to come.
His service to the JCC was part of a broader lifetime of community involvement. A Richmond native and Eagle Scout, Kalman later served as an assistant scoutmaster and volunteered with numerous community organizations, including Crime Stoppers of Metro Richmond and the Henrico County Police Department’s Motorist Assistance Program.
Perhaps the clearest measure of Kalman’s relationship with the Weinstein JCC, however, is its duration. Board presidencies have beginnings and endings; his commitment to the Center did not. For more than four decades, he continued to lend his time, experience and leadership to an institution he valued deeply.
Following his death, his family designated the Weinstein JCC, along with VCU Massey Cancer Center, for memorial contributions—one final reflection of a connection that remained important throughout his life.
Kalman’s longtime friend and co-worker, Nathan Shor, reflected on the quiet dedication that characterized his service: “The greater Richmond Jewish and general community has lost a committed and dedicated member of the community. It will be a long time before someone does so much for this community in such a completely quiet and thoughtful fashion. David will be sorely missed by so many.”
Looking Ahead to 80 Years—and 15 Years of Arts + Ideas
As summer gives way to fall, the Weinstein JCC is also looking ahead to a new season of opportunities to gather, learn and connect.
Fall programming will bring another diverse lineup of fitness and wellness, youth enrichment, Jewish life and community experiences, while the Center’s Arts + Ideas season marks a milestone of its own—15 years of bringing the community together through arts, culture and conversation.
The anniversary season will continue that tradition with performances, author conversations, visual arts, film and other cultural experiences designed to entertain, inspire and spark meaningful dialogue.
“Fifteen years of Arts + Ideas is really a celebration of the community that has grown around these experiences,” said Leslie McGuigan, Senior Director of Programs. “Whether people come for a performance, an author conversation, an exhibition or a film, the goal has always been to create opportunities to experience something new, ask questions and connect with one another. We’re excited to honor that history this season while continuing to evolve and welcome new audiences.”
The milestone Arts + Ideas season arrives as the Center prepares for one of the most significant anniversaries in its history. On September 27, 2026, the Weinstein JCC will mark 80 years since the opening of its first Center on Idlewood Avenue in 1946, beginning a yearlong celebration continuing through summer 2027.
The Center is inviting community members to help preserve that history by sharing photographs, memorabilia and personal stories that reflect generations of JCC experiences. The effort embraces the spirit of l’dor v’dor—from generation to generation—by ensuring that the experiences and memories of those who came before continue to inform and inspire the Center’s future.
In many ways, the stories of this summer capture that history in miniature: children finding belonging at camp; Jewish teens representing Richmond on a larger stage; programs earning the continued trust of families; a family whose philanthropy has helped transform the Center across generations; and the loss of a volunteer leader who continued giving his time long after his term as Board President had ended.
Together, they offer a fitting perspective as the Weinstein JCC approaches its next chapter: community is built in many ways, everyone has something meaningful to contribute, and the strongest legacy is one that inspires the next generation to carry it forward.
For more information about upcoming programs and events, or to register, visit weinsteinjcc.org.