On July 30, the JCC of Greater Baltimore announced that Keith Shapiro will serve as its incoming board chair.
For Shapiro, who has served on the board for the last 12 years, this appointment marks both a professional milestone and a deeply personal commitment to Jewish life in Baltimore.
Shapiro’s original exchanges with the JCC were due to his son’s activity in Maccabi.
“Back 15 to 17 years ago, I was [in Israel] for Maccabi with the JCC. My son was competing [and had] an incredible experience. That’s when I began my engagement with the JCC,” Shapiro said.
After retiring from his career with Sysco Foods, Shapiro dedicated much of his time to volunteer work in the Baltimore community. Now, as board chair, he will be responsible for guiding the direction of the JCC by supervising the board.
“I try to keep everything moving in a positive direction and set the priorities, mainly,” Shapiro said. “My No. 1 job is to set the priorities for the board and for the JCC with our executive director.”
Among those priorities, Shapiro identifies finances and funding as the JCC’s most pressing challenge. Growing membership, he explained, is essential to addressing that challenge.
He also highlighted the partnership with The Associated, which recently relocated its headquarters to the JCC’s Park Heights building.
“The Associated is a great organization that does a lot of our funding for us,” Shapiro said. “Our priority is to focus on that building, to grow our membership and grow our programming in that area, and leverage the investment that The Associated put into that building.”
His pride in the JCC community is evident.
“It’s just outstanding. It’s a great organization of people that do things that benefit the entire Jewish community,” Shapiro said.
The work of the JCC, Shapiro emphasized, has become increasingly important in today’s world.
“[As] things go along, I realize that the more challenges there are in the world, the more the work that we do with the JCC becomes more critically important. I feel better about the work we’re doing to have an impact on the community, because it’s so critical now, especially after Oct. 7,” Shapiro said. “[Being on the board] is an opportunity to take your Jewish values and actually put them into action.”
This work includes partnering with The Associated on a task force addressing antisemitism.
“I believe that [the JCC’s] role is to educate and to continue to focus on Jewish values. We do that in multiple ways,” Shapiro said. “Everything we do is based on Jewish values. That’s our primary focus: developing our Jewish values and [creating] programs that affect the Jewish community in a positive fashion.”
Beyond his involvement with the JCC, Shapiro has been a visible presence in many local volunteer programs.
As a former volunteer at Great Kids Farm, a program run through Baltimore County’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Shapiro taught classes on healthy eating and helped children turn the products they harvested into food.
“They bring kids to a 42-acre farm to plant and harvest,” Shapiro added.
Shapiro’s volunteer experience has expanded to other food-related programs.
“I was also on the board of [the Maryland Food Bank]. I chaired their board advancement. I was on their board for six years. I first got on the board when Carmen Del Guercio had taken over,” Shapiro said. “The place was in bad shape, but through a lot of board work and Carmen’s leadership, we were able to turn the food bank around.”
Lastly, Shapiro chaired the board of the Community Assistance Network and is now the treasurer of the board. CAN is a nonprofit that manages homeless shelters and outreach services and runs a food pantry.
“I work in their food pantry and manage it two days a week. We [have] met some really great people. There, people can grocery shop as long as they qualify,” Shapiro said.
He also added that CAN’s grocery store has been busier recently, which has made him feel that his volunteer work has a significant impact.
“A lot of people are concerned about SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] reductions and everything that’s going on. It’s a great organization, and the food pantry is incredible,” Shapiro said.
Amy Hollander is a Baltimore Jewish Times intern.
