[PHOTOS] 4th Annual JCC Character Breakfast

The JCC Rockland hosted its fourth annual Character Breakfast Tuesday morning, featuring five characters, food, a bounce house, face painting, balloon animals and coloring.

“I worked in other JCCs before this one, and it’s always just a nice thing to do,” said Monica Rosenbaum, School Age Care/Camp director for the JCC Rockland. “A lot of families are just happy to have somewhere to go Christmas morning, since so much is closed.”

Rosenbaum said the first year the JCC Rockland hosted the event, they were expecting maybe 200 people to show up, so they had it in smaller social hall. More than 350 people showed up and an annual tradition at the JCC Rockland was born.

“We didn’t turn anyone away,” she said. “Since then, we’ve had it in the gym and it’s grown since.”

They’ve added more characters in recent years, along with the bounce house and face painting. The characters there on Tuesday were Alvin, Big Bird and Abby Cadabby from “Sesame Street,” Hello Kitty and Tyrone from “Backyardigans.”

“It’s also a good way for parents to see how their kids handle seeing the characters,” Rosenbaum said. “It’s a way to see if they’d be okay to go to something like Sesame Street Live.”