A SELF-MOTIVATED WOMAN WITH A SUPPORTIVE HUSBAND
SARINA FOFFÉ
FRANCINE DWECK’S VOLUNTEER JOURNEY BEGAN IN 1972 AS A BROWNIE LEADER WHEN HER DAUGHTER VALERIE JOINED THE BROWNIES, AT SEVEN YEARS OLD. AFTER THAT, THEY BOTH MOVED ON TO THE GIRL SCOUTS. “I LOVED DOING PROJECTS WITH THE GIRLS THAT HELPED THEM TO GET THEIR BADGES,” SAID FRANCINE, WHO ROSE IN THE SCOUT RANKS TO BECOME COOKIE CHAIR FOR BROOKLYN’S SOUTHERN DISTRICT.
“I remember, I was very young, maybe 7 years old, and our garage was full of boxes of cookies,” said Francine’s son Morris A. Dweck. “I sold Girl Scout cookies door to door.”
Francine joined the PTA at PS 236, and then at Roy H, Mann Junior High, following her daughter through grade school. In 1979, Valerie was a freshman at Sephardic High School when Francine became president of the first PTA. By the time Valerie finished high school, Francine joined the Sephardic Community Center family as part of the Adult Education Committee.
In a very few years at the Center, with Francine’s leadership qualities and ideas, she formed the Special Events Program; and with a great bunch of women, ran many beautiful events. In 1985, with an audience of hundreds of women, she chaired the Generations Fashion Show; and then the Beautiful Table. In 1986, she chaired the Boutique Showcase with over 50 venders, an event she managed for a decade. The list of events she planned for at the Center grew and included Book Fairs, Gourmet Expos, Back to Bradley Beach, and The Generations and Celebrations shows. Each had between 300 and 400 participants, and audiences of several thousands of our community’s members.
“I am a people person,” Francine said. “I love talking to people and I was able to recruit volunteers to help with events. Many of my volunteers grew to be chairwomen of different departments at the Center. It was very gratifying to be part of their learning experience.”
Francine became part of the Center’s Board of Directors in 1986, while continuing to run many special events, overseeing all details to make each event successful, she became concerned about the needs of special children. She organized “Just for Me” in 1998, a program for children with learning disabilities, hiring special education teachers for the program.
Francine was also interested in travel and wrote about the trips she took with her family and husband Albert, who was president of Congregation Kol Israel. The first trip she wrote about was a Passover trip the family took together in 2000. IMAGE readers have enjoyed Francine’s articles about their travels.
Other charities Francine worked on included SAFE, managing fundraisers to help them get started, at Stanley and Cookie Chera’s house. She won several awards at the Center and mentored young girls after taking classes in leadership. In 2001, she chaired the social events of the Maccabee Games at the JCC of Deal, New Jersey.
Francine says her motivation started with the Brownies and was encouraged by her husband Albert. She says the most important thing she learned throughout the years was to accept people for who they are. Everyone has a different personality and we need to accept people for what they represent.
“When you are part of a volunteer core never say ‘I’, everything is ‘we’; it shows you are working as a team and respect each other’s contributions. If someone asks a question, tell them you’ll find out the answer and get back to them.
“I loved working with the professionals. Their outlooks on life were different; and I learned to respect people who came from different backgrounds. Their lessons were invaluable and a great part of who I am today.”
Francine Dweck had modest beginnings, living in an apartment house on Ocean Parkway with her siblings and parents, Harold and Violet Sutton. She went to PS 215, Boody JHS and Lincoln High School. Her parents gave her respectable character traits such as honest work habits, a taste for learning and how to be responsible and give to her community.
All three Dweck children learned from their parents. Today, Morris works closely with Rabbi Eli Mansour, helping build a new synagogue; he created Torah.org, and is a founder of YDE and Community Security Alliance. Valerie is an Assistant Teacher at Reach for the Stars, and Harold works closely with Sephardic Bikur Holim. And of course, Francine’s husband Albert continues to work for this community in many capacities.
The experience of working with people, organizing and planning inspired Francine to do more and be of service to the community she loves dearly. She is truly an inspiration to others.
A journalist, genealogist and historian, Sarina Roffé is the author of Branching Out from Sepharad (Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017), Sarina holds a BA in Journalism, MA in Jewish Studies and an MBA.
