There are places that become part of who you are. For our family, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver has been that place across generations. As JWest prepares to build a new fitness centre that will carry our family’s name, we wanted to share, in our own words, what that space has meant to us, and why what gets built next matters.
Gary Averbach: When we moved from Richmond to the Oakridge area in 1975, joining the Jewish Community Centre was one of the first things I did. I enrolled my 5-year-old daughter in day camp and found my way into the gym shortly after. For the next four decades, until my office and home eventually moved downtown, I was there virtually every day it was open.
The fitness centre has served this community well for a long time and, now, like the building around it, it’s ready for its next chapter. But, what kept me coming back was never the facility itself – it was the people within it. My community was the health club, and it was filled with friends I looked forward to seeing and connecting with.
I have a weak eye, which meant competitive sports were never really an option for me. Walking became my discipline instead. Over years of daily workouts at the JCC, including the treadmill, and long circuits around Stanley Park, I built myself up to at least 17 kilometres a day. In 2022, I decided to find out what that foundation could hold, and I walked from Calgary to Vancouver. It took about 42 days. [See jewishindependent.ca/ averbach-reaches-kamloops and jewishindependent.ca/averbach-back-home.]
I’m 83 now – and I still show up. My goal is to reach 93 in good health. I don’t want to let the old man in.
When the opportunity arose to support JWest, I knew exactly where to direct my support. It was a natural choice to have our family’s name on the fitness centre. It’s where I spent most of my time.
What I hope for is simple – that the people who walk through those doors feel that this is a quality place. And that some of them, over time, find what I found: not just a gym, but a second home.
Mike Averbach: For me, the JCC gym was a rite of passage, and one that I have many fond memories of.
As a teenager, I spent a lot of time there, working out and goofing around with friends. It added a lot to my life in terms of strength and physicality, but it wasn’t all just physical. The mental discipline of showing up regularly, of pushing yourself in a space surrounded by people you knew, added something to how I understood myself. I grew up in that gym, in more ways than one.
My father has given a lot to the JCC over the years, and this gift reflects a connection that spans nearly five decades. It resonates for me too, because I lived it alongside him.
What I think about now is the next generation – my kids, and the families joining the JCC for the first time. A state-of-the-art fitness facility inside a Jewish community hub is not something every young person gets access to. To offer a space where physical wellness and Jewish community life coexist is genuinely special.
When my kids walk into that gym and see our name, I hope they feel what I felt growing up there: that this place is theirs, that it was built for them, and that the people who came before them believed it was worth building. That belief is what carries a community forward, generation to generation.
Gary Averbach chaired a fundraising campaign in the early 1990s that resulted in a renovation of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver and Mike Averbach has served on the RBC JCC Sports Dinner committee for years.