Jewish Federation Holds Groundbreaking on the Larry & Mary Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life with Lead Donors

October 30, 2020 – Sarasota

The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee held a socially-distanced, outside groundbreaking today to ceremonially begin the renovation and expansion of the Larry & Mary Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life.

Lead donors and Federation leadership wore hardhats and held shovels in a socially distanced ceremony outside on the 32-acre campus. Donors were also presented with small gold shovels with their names engraved to honor the significance of their generous gifts.

Larry & Mary Greenspon made the lead gift to name the campus in 2018. The couple has also named the sports area as The Larry & Mary Greenspon Sports Complex. The Federation, through its JFED PROUD & STRONG campaign, has procured seven more lead gifts from the following donors:

Joel & Gail Morganroth will name the 24,000 square foot event center as the Joel and Gail Morganroth Event Center. The Center will accommodate up to 1,000 people for exciting and entertaining programs, delicious events catered by Michaels On East, thought-provoking educational offerings and so much more. The venue will be available for use by the entire community for programming, life cycle events and holiday parties. The center will have a variety of rooms to accommodate groups of all sizes and ample parking.

Mitchell and Dawn Epstein will name the main entrance to the Morganroth Event Center, a beautifully-designed welcoming Chuppah to be called the Epstein Family Chuppah.

Jonathan and Michelle Mitchell will name the open light and airy 3,300 square foot lobby in the Morganroth Center as the Mitchell Family Welcome Center.

Karen & Tommy Bernstein will name a Jewish Day Camp in memory of their daughter, Marci Lynn Bernstein. The camp, for K – 9 students, is expected to be open in June of 2022.

Bob and Esther Heller have named the 4,800 square foot Israel Center in the Cultural Arts and Education building where students and the entire Sarasota-Manatee community can be educated about the Holocaust, antisemitism and Israel.

Jules and Carol B. Green will name the Florida Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA) as the Green FIBA Center. It will connect Israeli business innovation with Sarasota-Manatee’s business community.

Through a legacy gift left by Bea Friedman, the 6,500 square foot theater in the Cultural Arts and Education Building will be named in her honor.

In total, the JFED PROUD & STRONG campaign has raised $15.3 million toward a goal of $25 million. For more information about the JFED PROUD & STRONG campaign, visit jfedsrq.org/ProudStrong or contact Ilene Fox at ifox@jfedsrq.org or 941-343-2111.