The first family the Florida-based child services non-profit JAFCO assisted was from Long Island.
There were four children very close in age, the organization’s executive director, Sarah Franco, told 150 guests at JAFCO’s fifth annual “Fun in the Sun” fundraiser Thursday at the Glen Head Country Club. And the oldest of the four children went on to become a social worker.
“Sometimes I feel like without Long Island, there would be no JAFCO,” Franco said. “We feel very connected to this community, even though it’s a two-and-a-half hour plane ride away.”
In the years since, JAFCO – which stands for Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options – has expanded from its South Florida roots to the Northeast, having offered services in the New York area since 2000 and opening an office in Philadelphia in April.
JAFCO provides at-risk youth – the orphaned, children of divorce and those with developmental disabilities – with housing, education and mentorship services to help them mature into independent young adults.
With the “Fun in the Sun” event, which featured a luncheon, card games, yoga and a shopping boutique supported by various North Shore retailers, officials said they hope to soon open an office in New York.
“The good work of JAFCO could not have been done without you,” said Pearl Halegua, the president of the organization’s Northeast chapter. “…We have shakers and movers and we make things happen.”
Halegua, a retired teacher and current trustee at Temple Beth Sholom, first became involved with JAFCO at the suggestion of her sister’s brother-in-law, Ron Simon, who founded the organization in 1992.
She started the “Fun in the Sun” event out of her Old Westbury home in the mid 2000s by spreading word of JAFCO’s services to friends involved at Temple Sinai of Roslyn Heights and Temple Judea.
The first “Fun in the Sun” drew 30 women, she said, but the event – and JAFCO’s influence – grew in the next few years.
JAFCO’s Northeast committee is comprised of Long Island residents Deborah Agulnick, Laurie Drucker, Kim Floam, Joan Grant, Alexis Kaminoff, Lisa Levine, Amy Levy, Susan Lipper, Linda Moskowitz, Ronna Niederman, Rose Schecter, Stacey Spitalnick, Susan Tashlik and Dorine Wulwick.
This year’s event was the first to take place at the Glen Head Country Club and had the support of local retailers Shag, M-gems, Glam Mom, 2friends, Chintz Giraffe, Rubr Watches, Barth & Mc Callig and Club & Country.
“With this kind of community support, New York will be able to support a JAFCO chapter,” Halegua said.
Franco, who was slated as the event’s keynote speaker, showed a short video featuring testimonials from youth who have utilized JAFCO’s services.
She also led a solemn blessing of what she called “the five-point candle of hope,” which Franco said was symbolic of the five American children who die every day to abuse and neglect.
