Family service honors local couple, raising $150,000 for agency

by Enid Weiss
NJJN Staff Writer

The 30th annual dinner of the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Monmouth County on Aug. 16 raised $150,000, with friends of the agency and luminaries — including New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie — on hand to honor Toni and Jerry Zaro of Ocean.

The Zaros are long-time supporters of the Monmouth Jewish community, serving on the boards of the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center in Deal, the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County, and Temple Beth El in Oakhurst, among other organizations.

It was a record-breaking fund-raiser for the agency, which provides counseling, kosher meals-on-wheels, adoption assistance, and other social services, said JFCS president Evan Garternberg. Proceeds from a silent auction, sales of raffle and dinner tickets, and an ad journal raised $150,000, $55,000 more than last year’s tally.

“It was our most successful dinner-dance ever,” said Garternberg of Long Branch. “We attribute the tremendous outcome of the evening to the great group of people who put the event together, the causes our agency supports, and the Zaros.”

About 400 people were at this year’s dinner at Congregation Magen David of West Deal.

Executive cochairs of the dinner were Bernice Greenspan, Reba Greenspan, and Louise Hoffman, all of West End.

In his remarks, Corzine told the audience he met Jerry Zaro when being honored at an American Jewish Congress dinner in 2004. Zaro was there to receive the Hillel Award for community service.

The honoree couple laughed with the audience as their son David and others gave tribute speeches that were more in the nature of a roast. Corzine joined in the fun, joking that the dinner was more entertaining than being in Trenton “where there’s a press corps that asks ugly questions.” He also offered to donate a cot he used during marathon state budget negotiation sessions to the JFCS’ thrift shop in Asbury Park.

“There are a lot of things about being governor that aren’t always fun,” Corzine said. “But some things are a real joy — like saying thank you to people like Jerry and Toni.… It’s important that people give of their time, not just philanthropically.”

While Corzine focused his remarks on Jerry Zavo, Christie talked about “my friend Toni.”

“Let me tell you about Toni — the Bruce Springsteen fan. If you haven’t gone to a Bruce Springsteen concert with Toni, you haven’t gone, and you’re talking to a guy who’s been to 94 of ’em,” Christie joked.

He spoke about a Springsteen concert in Asbury Park performed before a small crowd so the rock star and his band could practice in preparation for their 1999-2000 tour. Toni was able to get in, said Christie, because of her friendship with Max Weinberg — music director for Late Night With Conan O’Brien, leader of The Max Weinberg 7, and the drummer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

“I was dancing around and I was sweating,” Christie said. “And Toni was just as crazy as I was. She danced the entire show — about three hours. The soul and the fun of that family comes from my friend Toni.”

Toni isn’t all fun and games: She cochaired the JCC’s 60th and 65th anniversary functions as well as the 2001 JCC Maccabi Games opening ceremonies at the PNC Bank Arts Center. She’s also on the board of the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County and a founding board member of the Women’s Council for the Leon Hess Center at Monmouth Medical Center.

Weinberg couldn’t make it to the dinner but donated four tickets to Late Night with Conan O’Brien as well as signed drumsticks to the auction.

Jerry Zaro thanked everyone for supporting JFCS and “for the extraordinary honor you’ve given us by being here.” He shared a story told to him by Rabbi Yosef Carlebach of Congregation Sons of Israel in Ocean: “A man was throwing a starfish back into the sea when another man came walking by and watched him. The second man asked the first, ‘Do you think you can make a difference throwing the single starfish back?’

“The man held up the starfish and replied, ‘To this starfish I made a difference,’ and threw it into the ocean.

“And all of you here tonight — you have made a difference,” said Zaro. “You only have to turn on the television or pick up a newspaper to see the world is in a terrible place.… But if all of us stand together — we can make a difference.”

Jerry Zaro is an attorney and serves as a commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and chairs the Breeders’ Cup Host Committee for the 2007 Breeders’ Cup race at Monmouth Park. In 2002, he was appointed chair of the NJ Highway Authority.

As attendees milled about the social hall at the West Deal synagogue, they talked to one another and put in bids for the items in the silent auction. Popular items included retail gift certificates, spa treatments, an iPod, bicycles, tickets to the theater and sporting events — and Weinberg’s drumsticks. The raffle grand prize was a week’s vacation in Aruba.

Talking about the success of the evening, Robert St. Lifer said it was due to “a combination of a good cause and good honorees.” St. Lifer recently succeeded Robert Grossman, who also attended, as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County.

“It’s a great community,” Grossman said. “People come out of the woodwork when they’re needed; the people of Monmouth County really care.”

The auction portion of the fund-raiser was spearheaded by three cochairs: Chris Katz, Kim Chalnick, and Carin Greenspan. Katz and Greenspan are from Ocean, Chalnick from Holmdel. “We had a lot of really generous people contribute,” Katz said.