Giving Back
When Lenny Krayzelburg first arrived in the United States, he was a teenager with an imperfect command of English. Though already a serious swimmer — he was first spotted by coaches in his native Odessa at the age of 9 — he was, by his own estimation, “only average.” Los Angeles’s Westside JCC helped change that. Krayzelburg swam on the center’s team and worked at the JCC as a lifeguard. Since then, Krayzelburg has gone far, most notably to the Sydney and Athens Olympics, where he won a total of four gold medals. But the years were not as kind to the JCC that once served as the swimmer’s aquatic home. Wracked with budget problems, the center had been struggling to keep its doors open. But Krayzelburg has swum to the rescue. A donation of more than $100,000 has helped keep the JCC pool — and those who use it — afloat.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
