In conversation with Binnie & Jack

In conversation with Binnie & Jack

Deborah K. Golfarb, Binnie & Jack Berro

Many of us have noticed the Solar panels in the parking lot of the Weinberg Jewish Long Beach Campus, but not everyone knows the story and deeper meaning. Inspired by the lay leadership of the time and then CEO of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation, Deborah Goldfarb, our community undertook the challenge of bringing financial and environmental sustainability to the hub of Jewish life in Long Beach. Led by the generosity of Binnie & Jack Berro, and the support of numerous families in 2017, the solar project began and has helped the organization flourish. Now in 2023, the Berro’s generosity continues, as the Solar Panels became an official asset of Jewish Long Beach. To mark this occasion, now interim CEO of Jewish Long Beach, Deborah Goldfarb had the chance to catch up with Binnie and Jack.

DG: Binnie and Jack, we are so grateful to arrive at this moment in our 75th year, so it feels special to revisit the beginnings of this project, and how you originally got involved.

JB: Binnie and I were both born and raised here in Long Beach.

BB: We joined the JCC Community as a young couple, raising a growing family, and wanting to meet people and get involved.

DG: How did your involvement with the campus and solar project start?

JB: Of course, we were thrilled when plans were set for a new facility in the 1990s, and I enjoyed serving on the Building Committee. We are very proud and comforted by everything that is afforded people on our campus, from the Early Childhood Education Center, Jewish Family Children Service, Long Beach Hillel, Jessie Butler Senior luncheons, our Alban Fitness Center, and our Mary Alpert Pool, plus all that happens here. Having had children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren in the programs, we want the organization to prosper.

BB: Therefore, it made sense to cut expenses and help our environment through the addition of Solar Panels on parking lot and rooftop. Our hope was to preserve, maintain, and to strengthen what our community built through many years.

DG: What can this project teach the community about sustainability?

BB: In order to stay strong and flourish, we must keep up with the times!

DG: What do you wish for the future of Jewish Long Beach?

BB: L’Dor V’Dor, to pass it down from generation to generation, so that others may benefit. It was there for our young family and for our aging parents.

JB: Our greatest wish is that we will always have a place to call home for our community.

DG: What advice do you have for young people who want to get involved?

BB: Jump in early to reap all of the benefits along the way!

JB: Yes, it’s time for our younger generation to step up and take a leadership role for themselves, their families, and their community.

DG: Thank you both for all you have done and the example you have created for leadership now and into the future.