Keeping an Eye to the Future
Dr. Richard Reff (Ricky) and his family recently established the Shirley Robinowitz Kullen & Reff Family Endowment for Senior Programs to providing funding to support Bender JCC senior adult programs.
Rockville, MD, November 2, 2023 – The Bender JCC’s programming for senior adults is highly valued by those we serve. With a purpose to prevent isolation, improve nutrition and build community, we help enable participants to age in place with connections to support services.
Ricky’s mother, Shirley Robinowitz Kullen (Sugar), is a participant at Wellness Wednesdays, part of the Selma Sweetbaum Senior Nutrition Program. Sugar recently celebrated her 101st birthday with her friends at Wellness Wednesdays.
In creating the fund, Ricky stresses the importance of investing in this vulnerable population.
“Seniors are an isolated group. Too frequently, they’re left behind. Many of them are not tech savvy and don’t have the ability to connect with the methodologies that we typically use today, like Zoom and other computer-based programming, so it becomes really important to have this resource.”
A past-president of the Bender JCC, Ricky remembers when the Bender JCC held a program on Fridays during which preschoolers and older adults would gather to welcome Shabbat.
“I remember one time when my children attended the preschool and a 100-year-old resident of the Hebrew Home came to spend time with them. The Bender JCC is unique in being able to offer such multi-generational and memorable experiences.”
Ricky hopes that in the near future, this critical program that is a lifeline for so many in our community can be held more often than once a week.
“My motivation to create the endowment was seeing the meaningful way in which senior programming at the Bender JCC benefits my mother. Others might not have that first-hand experience, but it’s important to keep an eye to the future. Having such an inclusive and welcoming and warm community is what we would like to have available to our parents and us. We’re not around just to punch the clock.”
