Hosts needed for the 2009 JCC Maccabi Games
This summer, 1,500 Jewish teen athletes from around the world will converge at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco for the JCC Maccabi Games. For those not familiar with the event, picture the Olympics but with a Jewish twist. The athletes will be competing in many events including baseball, soccer, basketball, table tennis, volleyball, golf, swimming, dance, tennis, and track and field. Aside from their activities on the field, they will also interact with our community during their day of tikkun olam or community service. These Games are a huge undertaking by the JCCSF, and they need quite a few volunteers from our community to make these games a success. There are a plethora of ways to get involved, but right now the JCC is putting out two main calls for action:
- Help spread the word of the Games to young athletes. The JCC will be holding tryouts this spring. Interested teens can register online.
- Sign up to be a host family to the visiting athletes.
As of now, 100 families have signed up to host, but that number doesn't even come close to the 600 families needed to house the expected 1,200 visiting athletes. Your place doesn't need to be the Ritz, but it does need to have a separate bed, pullout couch, cot, or air mattress for each athlete. There also needs to be at least one Jewish adult in the household. More details on the housing requirements and hosting responsibilities are available on the JCC Maccabi Games website. My hubby and I share a typical cozy San Francisco apartment, but for the week of August 2-7, 2009, we plan on hosting two athletes on our air mattress and couch in our open kitchen\den\dining room. It will require a little bit of coordination to get our visitors to and from the JCC everyday and get to work on time, but we are looking forward to the Games and showing the athletes our great city. For more information, check out http://www.jccmaccabisf.org/ and watch this video on the 2009 JCC Maccabi Games. The Games are presented in part by The Jewish Community Endowment Fund that generously donated $500,000 to the event. Click here for a full list of contributors.
