Jewish Congregation of Marco Island

Keith Alter, Jewish Congregation of Marco Island Vice-President

The Jewish Congregation of Marco Island recently celebrated its 40-year anniversary. We are proud that we have become an integral part of life on Marco Island, not only as a center for Jewish life on the island but also as a valued community partner for its residents and visitors. Our congregation’s dedicated members — acting collectively as JCMI — continue to find new ways to partner with the local community to enhance Marco Island life.

Members work tirelessly to keep our small but energetic Jewish community in constant motion. We have been quite busy over the summer months not only preparing for the High Holidays, but also planning the community-wide JCMI social events that Marco Island has come to enjoy over the years. Once the High Holidays are over, our members will kick things into high gear in anticipation of the upcoming “busy” season. For many of us, that means spending time — and lots of it! — in our temple’s kitchen.

Two years ago, JCMI held its first Bubbe’s Bakery — a bake sale that attracts mostly non-Jewish members of our community to taste our Jewish delicacies. The sale was a huge hit, and everything was gone in less than two hours. Last year we baked even more goodies, and this year the event will be expanded yet again and held in February rather than November to let more people enjoy our tasty treats.

Our amazing team of bakers (the Bubbes!) spend long hours working together in our kitchen to prepare the large quantity of goods needed for the sale, and the local Winn Dixie generously allows us to store items in their freezer until the sale takes place. On the savory side, the men took over the kitchen to prepare chili for JCMI’s first entry into the island’s annual chili cook-off last year competing against the police, firefighters, and churches among the local organizations. And our home-cooked latkes are a popular highlight of our community-wide Hannukah party.

While Bubbe’s Bakery might be our sweetest activity, our membership hosts a number of other communitywide events at our temple. The most famous of these is the weekly bingo held at the temple from October to May. It is so highly anticipated that local folk stop JCMI members when they see them around town to ask, “When is Bingo coming back?” Other popular events include the musical entertainment acts we bring to the temple, which enjoy large community-wide attendance. Members of our congregation have also created a film festival, collaboratively selecting films of Jewish interest and leading discussions at the end of each film.

These fun and engaging activities could not take place without the collective strength and energy of our tight-knit JCMI community, working together to get things done. Our members get great satisfaction out of seeing their efforts result in successful events that are valued by our wider Marco Island community and help spread our Jewish customs. While many of our more widely attended events are not specifically Jewish in nature, they help make the Jewish community a vital contributor to life on Marco Island and bring outside people to our temple. Our regular volunteers even include several non-Jewish community members!

JCMI’s membership may be rather small, but we have a dedicated group of energetic members who have the time, skills, and interest to keep our congregation’s “social calendar” full. Our collaborative event planning and execution activities keep our members busy and strengthen our social networking, contributing to a close sense of community among ourselves and also with our non-Jewish Marco Island neighbors.