Don and Carole Chaiken did not meet at a JCC. Romance did not bloom at a BBYO meeting. They did not bump into one another at an ice cream social.
“She moved into a building in Los Angeles I’d moved into a few months before,” noted Don.
“We met by the pool,” added Carole.
“One thing led to another,” he continued.
Be that as it may, the Walnut Creek couple has a downright affection for JCCs in general, and have played a pivotal role in the particular evolution of their town’s Jewish Community Center into a hub — and beyond.
The couple will be honored at this year’s Contra Costa JCC Gala on Saturday, June 9.
The Chaikens arrived in Walnut Creek 25 years ago, when the JCC was operating out of a cramped former church. Don, a real estate developer, soon heard about the JCC’s interest in its current site, a former school with acres of green space. He quickly came to the conclusion that for the price the sellers wanted, it would be like “buying the land and getting the buildings for free.”
The Chaikens pushed for the purchase — successfully, of course — and then served a major role in raising the funds to pay it off.
Now the couple is spearheading a new effort to tear down some outmoded classroom buildings on the JCC site and build a more comprehensive and modern center.
“We both have a feeling that a Jewish community needs some central places to congregate. And a very large number of Jews and Jewish families are not affiliated with a congregation. The JCC provides the social and non-religious place for people to be involved with other Jews,” said Don Chaiken.
“The JCC simply plays an important role in the fabric of the Jewish community.”
For more information or to RSVP for the gala, call Debbie Helms at (925) 938-7800 ext. 235. To place a tribute, call Nina Haller at (925) 938-7800 ext. 229.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California