RALLY WARMS COLD, WET CROWD JEWISH CENTER BACKERS RAISE FUNDS.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

GRANADA HILLS - More than 100 people braved the chill and drizzle Sunday to attend a fund-raising rally for the North Valley Jewish Community Center, which faces closure unless its backers raise more than $300,000.

Along with the kids who use the center, parents, rabbis from local temples and local politicians turned out for the two-hour event on the blocked-off street.

The North Valley Jewish Community Center gained national attention in 1999 when racist Buford Furrow shot five people there.

On Sunday, speakers included county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, who told the crowd he will continue to help every Jewish Community Center in the Los Angeles area gather more support to stay open.

``The JCCs are important to the community - not just the Jewish community, but the entire community,'' Koretz said.

The rally raised $3,000 through donations and a raffle, and it helped raise supporters' spirits as they began their larger fund-raising effort.

``It's important for the center to stay open because I've spent my entire childhood here,'' 12-year-old Brittany Rayman of Northridge told the crowd. ``And if you take it from me, it'll be like ripping up my childhood and throwing it away.''

The center on Rinaldi Avenue is one of five threatened with closure because the organization that runs them, Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles, is deeply in debt. The board announced last fall that one or more of the five centers may be shut and property sold because of $3 million in debt.

The centers got a reprieve last week when the board said centers may be able to stay open if their leaders submit a detailed business plan to operate without funds from the parent organization.

Officials at the North Valley Center submitted a plan in which they estimated that they need to raise about $350,000 to meet that goal. Since then, center supporters have raised about $40,000, they said.

``It's a critical day,'' Andrea Goodstein, a parent who is heading up the fund-raising effort, said Sunday. ``Every day is critical day for us. We need to save the center. We need to make sure it continues.''

Even when sprinkles began at the North Valley center, people stayed at the rally to cheer on the speakers.

``It's a place that's very close to our hearts,'' said Joyce Grant of Northridge, explaining why she bundled up her family to join the rally. ``It's a place that brings people together. It's a joy to see what our children are learning there.''

The North Valley center operates a nursery school and an after-school care program for older kids. It also is home to a programs for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, senior citizens and other community groups.

A fund-raising rally also was held Sunday at the Silverlake Los Feliz Jewish Community Center, where City Councilmen Tom LaBonge and Eric Garcetti and Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, helped parents, children and other supporters raise $14,500 at a potluck event.

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With their son Matt, 13, sandwiched between them, Bess and Randy Silverston of Granada Hills huddle together against the damp chill Sunday at a rally to raise funds for the North Valley Jewish Community Center.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer