Ben Grossman has fond memories of spending time at Congregation Sons of Israel and the JCC in Allentown when he was young. Both were and continue to be key institutions of the Lehigh Valley Jewish community that he has committed to sustaining and strengthening into the future through a planned legacy gift.
“The JCC was the place to be,” he said as we talked recently inside the JCC. “Everyone came here. Some kids in the neighborhood would come here to work out, even though they weren’t members.”
Grossman was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley, and his family has been here since the late 1800s or early 1900s. Like himself when he ran the family company Grossman Brothers (which he closed in 2016), his ancestors were in the scrap metal business, originally working as street peddlers.
In recent years, Grossman has been active as a volunteer for Jewish community organizations. Around 2010, he served on the board of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. Later on, he volunteered at Jewish Family Service. He worked there in the Mazel Meals program through the peak Covid years, picking up food donations from grocery stores and taking them to the JFS pantry, as well as delivering prepared meals to homes.
He recently signed on to the Life and Legacy program offered through the Jewish Federation in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. Participants in the program promise an after-lifetime commitment to setting up an endowment that will provide funding toward keeping the various organizations and efforts of the local Jewish community—including the Jewish Federation, JCC, Jewish Day School, Jewish Family Service, and the synagogues—here and vibrant for future generations.
“I heard about the Life and Legacy program and figured I’d give it a shot,” Grossman said. “A couple of my friends were active in it.”
Some of those friends were making phone calls to community members who might want to take part in ensuring that the Valley Jewish community thrives over the long term. Grossman was on the list. “It didn’t take much to convince me,” he said.
He emphasized that all community members have to do their part. “All this didn’t just appear here,” he said. “You need to do what needs to be done to keep it going. These organizations meet the demands for services in the community. I want there to be something there for the next generations.
“Somebody else did it for you. Now it’s your turn to do it for somebody else.”
To find out how you can do your part through the Life and Legacy program to ensure that the Jewish community continues to thrive into the future, contact Aaron Gorodzinsky at 610-821-5500 or aaron@jflv.org