Allan Weissglass Distinguished Leadership Award Gala 2025

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Our online ticket registration is now closed. If you still wish to attend, please call Sylvia Cohen at 718-475-5246. Thank you!

Jerry Grushkin

Jerry Grushkin is a retired architect who maintained a private practice for nearly 50 years. Over the course of his career, he received numerous awards for excellence and achievement in craftsmanship and the natural beauty of his buildings from the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce. His work has been featured in the New York Times, New Jersey Star-Ledger, Staten Island Advance, and other publications, highlighting various projects across the New York metropolitan area.

In addition to his architectural practice, Jerry was also a builder and interior designer, allowing his projects to benefit from the full range of his expertise. He held leadership positions in several professional organizations, including serving as President of the Staten Island Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the New York City Homebuilders’ Association, and Treasurer of the Council of Architects, Engineers, and Surveyors of Greater New York, Inc.

A lifelong believer in community service, Jerry has held executive roles in many civic and cultural organizations. These include President of Staten Island B’nai B’rith; Chairman of the Construction Committee of the Staten Island Zoological Society (where he also served as a board member for over 25 years); Second Vice-Chairperson of the Staten Island Museum of Arts and Sciences; board member of the Staten Island Holocaust Center; board member of the Art Lab at Snug Harbor; and Treasurer of the Staten Island Archaeological Society.

Currently, Jerry serves as an Administrative Vice President of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, a board member of the Staten Island Jewish Community Center (JCC), and an active member of the Building Bridges Coalition of Staten Island—an interfaith organization dedicated to fostering understanding and acceptance of the practices, values, and tenets of the borough’s diverse religious communities.

Jerry’s dedication to Judaism and community service has been widely recognized. He received the B’nai B’rith Torch of Liberty Award for his contributions to the community and mankind. In 2017, he was honored by UJA-Federation of New York and, later that year, received the JCC Star of David Spirit of Judaism Award. In 2022, he was named "Man of the Year" by the NJ Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs for his commitment and service to Congregation B’nai Jeshurun.

In 2016, as a tribute to the memory of his late wife Esther—a Staten Island-based educator and Hebrew scholar—Jerry and his family, with the support of the JCC, established the Dr. Esther Grushkin Seminars for Adult Jewish Education (SAJE), an endowment supporting an ongoing Jewish lecture series. Five years later, SAJE expanded into what is now the Dr. Esther Grushkin Center for Arts + Culture, which serves people of all ages and faiths. The center’s mission is to enrich the lives of the Staten Island community through engaging lecture series focused on Jewish studies, history, music, cinema and theater, literature, politics, and journalism. It also promotes Jewish heritage, strengthens the community’s connection to Israel, and combats antisemitism. Jerry now chairs this committee.

Jerry is a proud father to his three sons—Orren, Ailon, and Danny—and a loving presence in their families’ lives. He is now married to Stephanie Mizrahi, who is also active in leadership roles at the JCC.

In his personal time, Jerry enjoys reading, gardening, traveling, visiting museums, and attending lectures, the movies, and the theater. Though retired from tennis, he is now an active pickleball player. He is also a passionate photographer. For the past thirty years, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun has been an integral part of his life, where he attends services most Saturday mornings.

Susan Sappin

A native of Brooklyn, Susan Sappin moved with her husband, David, to Staten Island almost 40 years ago. The Sappins soon joined Temple Israel Reform Congregation of Staten Island, where she eventually became President of the Congregation. Through her connections at Temple Israel, Sue was introduced to life at the JCC. Over time, Sue joined the Board of the JCC, where she has served as Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and President. Sue is the only person to ever serve as President twice—first from 2011 to 2014, then from 2021 to 2025.

During her first term as President, Sue oversaw many positive changes to our JCC. She played a major role when we restructured our mortgage to reduce debt during the recession—a move that helped us keep our doors open and stabilized our agency financially. Her work led to an expansion of our Early Childhood and First Foot Forward programs, as well as the creation of the Center for Life Long Development (CLLD) for seniors. During her tenure, we installed solar panels in the Bernikow Building, which was instrumental in making our agency greener. When tragedy struck during Hurricane Sandy, Sue’s leadership helped us create a continuum of recovery services for those in need.

Her second term saw even more growth, as she helped guide our JCC out of the pandemic. New programs, including our ever-expanding Career Connections programs, blossomed under her leadership. During her second presidency, the JCC purchased the Berman Building and moved our North Shore ECE location to Temple Israel. Working hand in hand with JCC CEO Orit Lender, Sue led the JCC to bounce back financially post-COVID, allowing the agency to continue its important work in the community.

Perhaps Sue’s greatest accomplishment is cultivating and expanding the JCC’s reach. Her kindness, passion, and giving spirit made her a natural fit to attract people to join the Board of Directors and get more involved with our JCC. She is directly responsible for convincing Gail Castellano, now a Past Board President, to join. During her first presidency, she advocated for expanding the demographics of our Board to include people of different faiths. In addition to getting local people involved with the JCC, Sue also fostered a global partnership with the Israeli city of Pisgat Ze’ev, which became our Sister City.

Additionally, Sue is active with UJA-Federation, the JCC’s partner organization. For more than twenty years, Sue chaired the UJA Community Breakfast, a cause dear to her. She has served as a liaison to UJA, strengthening their connection with the JCC and Staten Island as a whole.

Sue has received several awards for her work in the community, including the First Generation Award at our Nancy Avis L’Dor V’Dor Awards Lunch in 2014. She fittingly received the Allan Weissglass Civic Leadership Award at Wagner College’s Holocaust Advisory Community Mitzvah Awards.

Sue is the mother of three adult children, Elizabeth, Jennifer, and Edward, and the grandmother of ten. She and her husband, David, were married for nearly 50 years before he passed away several years ago.

About Allan Weissglass

Allan Weissglass, the namesake of the Distinguished Leadership Award, was a pillar at the JCC for more than 50 years. He was an inimitable community leader whose deep inner strength, courage, and tenacity knew no bounds. A successful businessman, husband, father, grandfather, mentor, and cherished friend, he presided over the Weissglass family’s business holdings, also applying his substantial skills as a businessman to a legion of Island civic and cultural organizations. Weissglass was born on Staten Island in 1935 and graduated from Curtis High School in 1952. After graduating from Cornell University, he married Roberta “Bobby” Lewin, and they had two children, Julie and Evan. He spent his career operating two companies – Weissglass Gold Seal Dairy, the family milk processing and ice cream business, and the Magruder Color Company, which manufactured pigments for printing ink. Allan was very active in the JCC beginning at the age of 4. He joined the JCC Board of Directors at the young age of 30. He said the JCC helped him and his family assimilate into the Staten Island community. Intelligent, quiet, unassuming, shy, and compassionate, Allan was a worker, a doer, and a legendary fundraiser. Known for his propensity to ask friends to donate to worthy causes, Weissglass was delighted when his friends told him, “It’s expensive to be your friend,” because of his gentle but determined fundraising. Allan’s devotion to Judaism was well known, but he cut across religious or any other lines to serve whatever organizations that needed his attention. He brought his talents and energy to the JCC, and his incredible impact there is known across Staten Island. In 1994, he received the JCC’s first Distinguished Leadership Award, which was subsequently named for him. Allan touched every aspect of the present day JCC. Whether it was expansion to the Avis/South Shore, the monumental capital campaign to fund the building of the Bernikow, or the opening of the JCC/Berman ECE building, Allan was key. He passed away in 2019, but his legacy lives on at the JCC, not only through his good works, but through his granddaughter, Allison Cohen, who serves as the agency's Chief of Communications & Fundraising.