Change4Change Program and Munich 11 Sculpture Unveiling

Join JCC Rockland’s 11-K community walk to raise money for its Change4Change Hunger Relief Program in honor of the Munich 11 athletes who were murdered at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. All proceeds will benefit the hungry in Rockland County and Israel, through People To People (Rockland’s largest food pantry, feeding over 1,700 families), Jewish Family Service’s Rhoda Bloom Kosher Food Pantry and our Israeli partner organizations via the Jewish Federation of Rockland County. The event is co-sponsored by Active International and Good Samaritan Hospital and is open to all ages.

Just prior to the start of the Walk, the first memorial sculpture to the Munich 11 in this country will be unveiled at JCC Rockland.  The piece, created by local sculpture Eric David Laxman, will be an abstract representation of the Olympic torch, with the flame in polished stainless steel. The torch base, in eleven partitions to represent each man who died, will be constructed in Corten steel. Although the base will oxidize and darken with exposure to the elements, the flame will not. Expected to be on hand is Dr. Ben Berger, 94, whose son David was the only American on the Israeli team and one of the Munich 11. David Berger’s sister Barbara, who resides in Maine, will also join us.

12pm: Registration opens

1:30pm: Munich 11 Sculpture Unveiling

2pm: Walk begins     

• 11-K Walk: From JCC Rockland to Germonds Park and back.
• 5-K Walk: From JCC Rockland, halfway to Germonds Park, and back.
• 1-K Children’s Course: Fun activities on the grounds of JCC Rockland.

Go to www.jccrockland.org/walk to register and create your own personal fundraising page.

$18 Registration Fee ($25 day of event)
$111 Recommended minimum fundraising goal

All entrants receive:

• Walk4Change T-shirt
• Minute of Silence Bracelet
• Munich 11 Commemorative Cards 

 Events will take place rain or shine.

For more information, contact: Carrie Sakin at (845) 362-4400, ext. 172 or carries@jccrockland.org 

Event Chairs: Arleen and Ken Bernstein. Government Co-Chairs: C. Scott Vanderhoef, County Executive, and Alex Gromack, Clarkstown Supervisor.

About the JCC Maccabi Games

The JCC Maccabi Games® provides Jewish youth with a fun, supportive environment fostering teamwork, sportsmanship, and competition. The Games cultivate an appreciation of Jewish values and a connection to the Jewish community, enriching participants’ Jewish identities while promoting their health and well-being. Visit www.jccrockland.org/maccabi for more info.

About Change4Change

Each year at the JCC Maccabi Games®, host communities honor the 11 Israeli athletes who lost their lives at the 1972 Munich Olympics. To extend this effort, JCC Rockland’s CHANGE4CHANGE program helps raise money to fight hunger in Rockland and Israel in their honor. We aim to raise 11 million coins—one million for each of the 11—before the Opening Ceremonies of the JCC Maccabi Games in Rockland in August 2012, creating a force for positive change in the spirit of humanity, tolerance and solidarity. Visit www.jccrockland.org/maccabi/change4change for more info.

About Munich 11

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, 11 members of the Israeli delegation were taken hostage in the Olympic Village by a terrorist group known as Black September and ultimately lost their lives. The request by the families of the Munich 11 for a minute of silence during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics has so far been ignored by the International Olympic Committee. We hope that this will become a reality at the London Olympics in 2012, the 40th anniversary of the Munich tragedy. Visit www.munich11.org for more info.