Union Y president Mark Bloomberg, second from left, and executive vice president Bryan Fox, watched by board chair Sol Kramer, present a certificate recognizing his service to kitchen boss Bill Goldfischer, right.
Photo by Elaine Durbach
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June 18, 2009
Over the past year, the YM-YWHA of Union County has welcomed growing numbers of clients but a dwindling income, as more and more people have sought scholarships or financial assistance.
What has made it possible to maintain the volume and quality of programming, according to executive vice president Bryan Fox, is the staff and their dedication to the center.
Addressing the Y’s annual meeting on June 10, he gave examples of their extraordinary longevity of service. Topping the list were people like Andrea Pargas and Barbara Pritasch, who so far have served for 29 years and 26 years respectively, and Jani Kovacs, the program director who has been there for 24.
“It’s certainly not because of their paychecks,” said Fox, who has been at the Y for 23 years himself.
This past year, the professional staff was cut from 10 to six, the office staff from six to three. Despite this reduction in force, Fox said, “we have still been able to provide the same service, thanks to the dedication of people who do double and triple what their job descriptions outline.”
Just two years after celebrating its centenary, back in 1985 — the year before Fox came on board — the Union Y was almost closed down. The JCC of Central New Jersey had opened its Martine Avenue facility in Scotch Plains, and there was doubt as to whether the community could support two such venues.
“But it wasn’t our time to go,” said Fox. The leaders “decided on a journey that we hope we will go on for many years to come.”
‘Daunting task’
Mark Bloomberg, who just completed a two-year term as president of the Y, has agreed to serve a third year. In his address, he too focused on how much the center has accomplished even in these very hard times. “We have a staff second to none,” he said. “We have people who do two, three, and four jobs — things not called on by their job descriptions.”
He paid special tribute to the staff of the kitchen, led for the past 20 years by Bill Goldfischer — who was celebrating his 86th birthday that day — and his three assistants, Jane Gurdzhi, Iliana Salazar de Aguilar, and Christian Sanabria.
Bloomberg said, “The Y kitchen produces close to 12,000 meals a year for senior citizens and 24,000 meals for child care children and teachers.” This past March, the kitchen took on a new challenge: providing meals for Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey’s kosher meals-on-wheels program, adding an additional 25,000 meals a year, for a total of 61,000.
Their “daunting task,” he said, would be almost impossible without the help of a group of dedicated volunteers. The annual Abraham Izak President’s Award was given to four of those volunteers, Bobbi and Max Barth (who also run the center’s monthly trips to Atlantic City), Joseph Kahan, and Eddie Michaelis.
He outlined what has been done in the past year — with services for everyone “from babies to bubbes,” and mentioned some aspirations for the future, including establishing a kosher café and setting up a strategic alliance with JFS to provide a medical-model day care facility for seniors.
The Department of the Year Award was given this year to the staff of the Y’s front office, headed by Susan Cohen, with Marina Engel as receptionist and Judy Flint as administrative assistant for children’s services. Vice-president RoAnna Pascher said, “In spite of staff cutbacks and other pressures, they have more than held together the office.”
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