Weissglass Gala 2011

Joe Harris, along with fellow honoree, Dick Kuhn, will receive the Allan Weissglass Distinguished Leadership Award at a gala black-tie evening planned for Sunday, June 12, to be held in the Lewis Stolzenberg Social Hall at the JCC.

This award is given to an individual or couple who have shown dedication to improving the JCC by a lifelong commitment to enriching and strengthening Jewish life and identity, serving as an agent for social change and human betterment, and demonstrating social vision and leadership in the Jewish community.

Send warm wishes to Joe and Dick by posting a comment below.

Executive Director 1965-1975

Spotlight on our Honoree- Joe Harris

Joe Harris exemplifies the criteria for receiving this award.  He graduated from Yeshiva University with a Masters in Social Work and he  is an ordained rabbi who has made Jewish communal service his life’s work.  His tenure as Executive Director of our Staten Island JCC from 1965 to 1975 was marked with innovative firsts.  Early in his tenure he inspired the Board of Directors to acquire a medical arts building adjacent to the JCC on  the North Shore which was developed as an early childhood center.  He then directed a strategic planning study which led to the lease of a 26 acre site from the City of New York for a 75 year period.  The JCC’s Family Park was constructed on this site and now serves as the site of the Joan & Alan Bernikow JCC.  Thereafter, he reached out to the South Shore community and established a branch of the JCC’s Nursery School at the Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center. The Music Institute which later would bear the name of Dick Kuhn’s mother, Dorothy Delson Kuhn was also established during his term as Executive Director.

He went on to a distinguished career at UJA-Federation of New York as Director of Group Services, overseeing JCCs and Community Councils in the Federation network of agencies, and also served as their Director of the Fund for Jewish Education. Later, he was an Assistant Director and consultant to JCCs for the Jewish Community Center Association (JCCA).  Before retiring, Joe was the Executive Director of the Association of Jewish Center Professionals.

Through the Boulevard Jewish Center Fund, which he was instrumental in establishing, he directed money to help the construction of the Arden Heights Jewish Center and provide financial assistance to other Staten Island Jewish institutions.  For nearly 36 years, Joe ran the Annual UJA-Federation Campaign at Young Israel of Staten Island. 

JCC President 1976-1978

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR HONOREE – DICK KUHN

Dick Kuhn is a native Staten Islander who can make a claim that very few can – his family has lived on the Island for five generations, beginning with his grandparents. His oldest granddaughter’s name is on the permanent honor roll at Curtis High School along with the names of her great-grandmother, Dorothy Delson Kuhn, her grandfather, Dick and her dad, Dan. His connection to Staten Island runs deep even though he moved to Princeton, NJ twenty years ago. He maintains his law practice, Kuhn & O’Toole, at Edgewater Plaza, specializing in Estate and Tax Planning. Dick has practiced on Staten Island since 1966 and his son, Dan, is a partner in the firm.

In Dick’s teens, the JCC was the place to gather. His initial connection to the Center came through sports since he excelled in basketball, softball and tennis. It was through sports that people remembered him when he returned to Staten Island after college, the Army and law school. He was brought onto the JCC board and quickly rose to become President in 1976. Dick is most proud of his efforts during his presidency to bring the Staten Island Jewish community together. Before a meeting he arranged, there was almost no connection between local rabbis and the Center. He began with the premise that they should start with areas upon which they agree, even though they were few, and build the relationship from there. The dialogue and mutual respect the JCC maintains today with its partners in the Jewish community had its genesis with Dick’s efforts.

Through his Estate Planning practice,  Dick has directed clients to make gifts and bequests to Staten Island agencies to their mutual benefit, including the JCC, the Staten Island Mental Health Society, On Your Mark, and the Verrazano Foundation, which created the Lavelle Prep Charter School. He has chosen these agencies for their quality programs and outstanding leadership. After receiving the Allan Weissglass Distinguished Leadership Award, he will have been honored by them all. Dick Kuhn is truly a renaissance man with interests that go much beyond his law practice and extend to music, history, literature ansports. 

The Music Institute at the JCC is named for Dick’s mother, Dorothy, who was its co-founder along with Bertha R. Mandel. In 1978, he created the foundation that still supports the Institute’s programs. In  addition, the Kuhn Family dedicated the gymnasium at the Bernikow JCC. This building stands as a beacon for the entire community and reminds us of Dick Kuhn’s long-standing commitment and dedication.