Today we are pleased to cast a spotlight on JCC leader Matthew Burwick and his family.  Matthew is a Senior Financial Advisor at L&M Wealth Management and serves as a trustee at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo (JCC).  Matt serves on the Camp Committee and has a strong affinity for Camp Centerland where his children Leo and Ivy attend each summer.  As part of ongoing capital improvements to the Camp, the JCC recently announced plans to build a new firepit on the grounds. Thanks to a lead gift from Matthew, his wife Sara, and the Burwick family, the Barbara S. Burwick Memorial Firepit will serve as a place for campers and the community to enjoy.

“One of the goals of the JCC is to support the physical and mental well-being of its members,” said Burwick. “Specifically, Camp Centerland played a major role in my life growing up and now in my children’s lives. It’s a very easy mission for my family and I to support.”

To complete the project, we invite community members to purchase a paver stone as part of the firepit’s “Walk of Flame.” This path, leading from the main camp pathway to the new space, will be filled with permanent tributes to families, campers, loved ones, staff, and others through engraved pavers of varying sizes.

Construction began last month for the new Walk of Flame

“We are excited about the firepit project and hope the community will join us in supporting it,” noted Burwick. “The campers of today will gather around this firepit with the names of past campers, staff, loved ones, and others from the history of the JCC around them, showing this incredible legacy of why Camp Centerland is such an important place.”

Visit jccbuffalo.org/walk-of-flame/ to learn more about the project and to purchase a paver directly to support the project.  See Matthew talk directly about the project in a video from the JCC’s Day of Giving back in February 2023 here: Day of Giving: Matt Burwick – YouTube

For questions about this project or for more information about how you can support Camp Centerland and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo, contact Alexander J. Eadie, Director of Advancement, at 716-929-6258 or aeadie@jccbuffalo.org.