CELEBRATING OPENING OF WORLD’S LARGEST CHABAD HOUSE

In a spirit of rejoicing and celebration, Chabad House Jewish Student Center at Rutgers University and its ten affiliate Chabad Houses serving central and southern New Jersey, will celebrate their National Founders Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, NJ on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 (the first night of Chanukah) at 5:30 PM.  More than 500 community leaders and supporters are expected to pay tribute to the honoree, Mr. Richard Saker, CEO and President of Saker ShopRites, Inc.  Mr. Saker and his family have been in the forefront of creating and marketing Kosher food for decades.  At the dinner Chabad  House will name its newly expanded kitchens, “The Saker Family Kosher Kitchens.”    

The guest speaker will be The Honorable Kim Guadagno, Lieutenant Governor, State of New Jersey.  The gala dinner is expected to substantially help the new building campaign goal of ten million dollars and the expansion program for a new 55,000 sq ft. edifice.

The dinner will commemorate thirty-three years of educational programs and activities serving the student population at Rutgers University and a unique panoply of educational and social welfare programs throughout central and southern New Jersey.

The dinner chairpersons are:  Mr. Doron Cohen, Chairman, Dun & Bradstreet (Israel) Ltd., Mr. Donald Epstein, CFO, Matrix Companies; Mr. Roger Fine, Corporate Vice President, Johnson & Johnson (Ret.); The Honorable Harry Franco, Mayor of Deal, NJ; Mr. Isaac S Gindi, VP, Century 21 Dept. Stores; Mrs. Lita Greenberg, Highland Park; Mr. David Halpern, Atlantic Realty;  Mr. Donald Hecht, Partner, Hecht and Co.; Mr. Danny Kahane, Developer; Mr. Steven Katz, Partner, Sterling Properties Group; Dr. Richard McCormick, President, Rutgers University; Mr. Carl Montanaro, S.V.P. Saker ShopRites, Inc.; Mr. Ronald C. Rak, J.D., Pres. and CEO, S.Peter’s Healthcare System; Mr. Rick Schottenfeld, Chairman, The Schottenfeld Group; Mr. Jeffries Shein, J.G.T. Management; Mr. Myron “Mike” P. Shevell, Chairman, The Shevell Group, New England Motor Freight; Mr. Mike Sullivan, V.P. Marketing, The Coca-Cola Co.; Mr. George Trienbenbacher, President, Ally Commercial Finance; and Mr. Jerold L. Zaro, Esq., Sills, Cummis, and Gross.

Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, Director of Chabad House, will report on the final stages of construction to enlarge Chabad House by 55,000 sq. ft.  The new amenities would include a state of the art men's dormitory and graduate student housing, an expanded kosher dining hall and auditorium to accommodate 770 students, an international coffee house, student lounges, newly expanded kitchens, and a first-ever college campus Sephardic Synagogue.  The new ten million dollar Building Campaign has already received community-wide support and has accomplished 85% of its goal.

Participants at the dinner will receive a special coffee table Anniversary Album pictorially depicting the history of Chabad House from its first days in a rented room at the Rutgers Student Center to its location today as the largest Jewish Center on any public university campus in the world.

For more information or reservations for `the gala dinner or the new building campaign or to receive the Anniversary Album, please contact Chabad House at 732-296-1800 or write to: Chabad House, 170 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.