Official Dedication of the Beit Grand JCC in Odessa

The Beit Grand Jewish Cultural Center in Odessa, Ukraine held its official dedication ceremony last month, celebrating the completion of the center's expansion and renovations.  JDC Board member Nancy Grand and her husband Stephen, for whom the JCC is named, were there for all the festivities, including a ribbon cutting and the hanging of the mezuzah on the center's front doors.  

The J. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California featured a wonderful article about the dedication ceremony. 

Nancy Grand watches as her husband’s long-lost cousin (center) helps affix a mezuzah to the new Jewish cultural center in Odessa in June.

Photo from Jweekly.com

Read the article at S.F. couple funds new Jewish cultural center in Odessa

About Beit Grand JCC
Beit Grand is home to the city's Hesed Shaarey Tzion Welfare organization and its Jewish Family Services program, as well as Hillel and the Odessa Regional Association of Ghetto and Concentration Camp Survivors. In addition to hosting concerts and holiday celebrations in its spacious concert hall, the Beit Grand also plays a key role in helping to organize and sponsor community events outside the building such as the Days of Jewish Culture event.

Boasting an extensive library and community gym, the Beit Grand campus has wide-ranging cultural programming including an arts studio, a Jewish writers club and a course for Jewish Odessa tour guides. The campus recently celebrated the opening of the Montessori-style Anavim Jewish kindergarten. And since 2009, a Jewish educator has been coordinating all Jewish renewal programs and working with the Beit Grand’s newly established Youth Club.