Cal Poly’s AEPi Steps Up to Support the JCC

Before we could even ask for help after the fire, our phones buzzed with a text from Joshua Pinsky, president of AEPi's Sigma Omega chapter at Cal Poly.

“We are always willing to help.”

Just hours earlier, a wildfire had swept across the back fields of our 10-acre property on Laureate Lane. Thanks to the swift response from CAL FIRE, no one was hurt, and the synagogue, clay tennis courts, olive orchard, and One Cool Earth's Play Grove were spared.

Unfortunately a stable for animals was damaged, acres of pasture were burned, and with Camp Shoreshim beginning July 20, there is important work to do before campers arrive.

Joshua didn't wait to be asked.

Within days, he and the brothers of AEPi's Sigma Omega chapter launched a GoFundMe to help restore the property. The campaign raised more than $600 in its first twenty minutes, and they're continuing to rally their alumni network in support of the effort.

For Joshua, the decision was simple.

"This property already does so much for us," he shared. The chapter gathers at the JCC several times throughout the year, and he wanted AEPi's members and alumni to give back to a place that has welcomed them for so long.

Then he learned something that made the connection even more meaningful. Alumni advisor Michael David, a founding member of Sigma Omega, told Joshua that decades ago, AEPi brothers helped build the JCC's clay tennis court—the very court the fire came within feet of reaching.

That story says something profound about this place.

Long before today's students arrived, earlier generations invested their hands, their resources, and their hearts to create a Jewish home that would outlast them. Today, that same property hosts children at Camp Shoreshim, welcomes college students, brings neighbors together on the tennis courts, and gives our community a place to gather, celebrate, grieve, and grow. It is not simply land owned by the JCC—it is a living legacy entrusted to all of us.

What touched Joshua most was learning that Camp Shoreshim could be affected. A "camp kid" himself growing up, he remembers those weeks as "some of the best memories of my life." He wants Jewish children here in San Luis Obispo County to build those same lifelong memories, on the same sacred ground that has nurtured generations before them.

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Brothers who are in town this summer will be joining us for our Community Workday on July 19, the day before Camp begins.

If you'd like to stand with them, there are many ways to help: volunteer at the workday, contribute to the GoFundMe, become a JCC Supporter, or simply help share the story. Every hour volunteered and every dollar given is an investment in the future of this place—and in the generations who will one day call it their Jewish home.
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To the brothers of Sigma Omega: thank you. Your generosity arrived before we even knew how to ask for it, and in doing so, you reminded us that this land belongs not just to an organization, but to an entire Jewish community.

See the AEPi GoFundMe

Become a JCC Sustainer

Join the July 19 Workday