by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
As a bankruptcy attorney, Ken Jacobs has plenty of experience helping people hold on to their money. His work for the Jewish Community Alliance shows he also has a knack for creating new wealth.
As Board President of the Jacksonville JCA, Jacobs — the managing shareholder of Gray, Robinson’s Jacksonville office — has watched over a fundraising campaign that has generated $2.7 million in just over a year.
The Capital Campaign seeks to raise $4 million for renovations to the JCA’s San Jose Boulevard campus. The expansion will triple the size of the fitness center, the JCA’s main draw, and add a six-lane lap pool.
Jacobs said the expansion is necessary to keep pace with a surge in membership and to keep an edge in the increasingly competitive fitness center market.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth in the past few years,” said Jacobs. “We now serve more than 2,000 members throughout Northeast Florida.”
The local growth reflects a national trend. At the Jewish Community Center Association’s national conference in Philadelphia in May, growth management for the 350 nation-wide centers was a major theme, said Jacobs.
The community centers began 1854 as a way to help Jewish immigrants preserve their traditions and culture. In 1917, the centers helped enlist rabbis to serve at military posts during World War I.
Today, the centers’ biggest draws are the fitness facilities and early education programs. Jacobs said the JCA still plays an important role in keeping together the Jewish community.
As subdivisions have replaced neighborhoods and text messaging has replaced conversation, the JCA provides a place where people can gather, said Jacobs.
“It really brings to a community what the neighborhood used to,” he said.
The expansion is a means to keep bringing the community to the JCA. A recent strategic plan revealed the need for new fitness facilities. With prices climbing on real estate, college, medical care and gas, the JCA wants to give its members a reason to keep mailing the checks every month.
“When gas prices rise, we don’t want the center membership to be the first thing to go,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs has got a lot more than exercise out of his 16-year-old membership to the JCA. He met his wife, Allison, in a JCA program shortly after he arrived in Jacksonville. His children, 4-year-old Josh and 7-year-old Sarah, go to summer camp there.
Jacobs makes sure his work with the JCA remains a family affair. Extensive work, family and community commitments don’t leave much empty space on his schedule.
“It’s rare that I don’t feel like I’ve got three balls in the air,” said Jacobs. “That’s why I advise people to get involved in things that you love. Without enthusiasm and passion, it’s too hard to stay committed.”