David Butler Memorial Maccabi Endowment Fund Established to Support JCC Maccabi Games Participants

The following is a reprint of an article published in the June 24 2026 issue of the Jewish Community Voice, titled, "David Butler Memorial Maccabi Endowment Fund established to support JCC Maccabi Games participants":

In addition to being a dedicated family man, entrepreneur, artist, teacher, and friend, David Butler was a passionate community leader in Southern New Jersey. The community shaped him, and, in turn, he left his own mark, with his steadiness, persistence, and warmth.

David began his involvement in the South Jersey Jewish community at a young age, attending Sunday Funday, playing basketball as a youth into his adulthood, and through SAR Fraternity as a teenager. He met me while we were both JCC counselors in 1973, and we married a few years later. Starting in the 1980s, he actively served on the JCC Board of Directors for over 25 years, including a term as Board President in the 1990s. During that time, David was pivotal in moving the JCC from Pennsauken to its current Cherry Hill location, a beautiful, cutting-edge facility that made him proud. David and a team of savvy leaders facilitated the fundraising, design, construction, community outreach, and transition to the new building. Most recently David served as a lifetime trustee on the Raymond and Gertrude R. Saltzman Foundation, helping to direct funds to seniors and children in need.

Of all the programs and events that David chaired over the years, the JCC Maccabi Games held a special place in his heart. The JCC Maccabi Games (“Maccabi”) create Jewish continuity through athletics and other activities, where participants from around the world bond each year. In 1988, inspired by his friend and Maccabi ambassador Jed Margolis, David spearheaded the first South Jersey delegation to the games in Chicago.

Just 11 years later, in 1999, our South Jersey Jewish community realized another dream through David’s relentless leadership:

Hosting Maccabi right here in our community. It was a mammoth undertaking, and with David as the chairperson and an army of volunteers, the games were orchestrated for over 1,500 visiting and local athletes.

Rob Kiewe, now the Jewish Federation’s chief operating officer, remembers it vividly. During the 1990s he oversaw the Katz JCC’s Health and Wellness Department and served as assistant games director, giving him a front-row seat to David’s impact, saying, “David was instrumental in bringing the 1999 JCC Maccabi Games to South Jersey and ensuring our success leading up to the event and throughout the monumental week-long event on the global stage.”

An added bonus for David was that his daughter and current board member, Lauren Butler Rosner, represented our community as a Maccabi athlete on the girls’ basketball team for four years in the 1990s. David’s dedication and passion filters through his children and has inspired so many.

To honor David’s legacy, the David Butler Memorial Maccabi Endowment Fund, has been initiated with the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. (JCF). The money generated from the fund each year will help families in need to send their children who qualify to participate in the JCC Maccabi Games. Anybody who would like to remember David while also helping many future generations of young athletes participate in the JCC Maccabi Games may donate at jcfsnj.org/butler-fund or by contacting JCF Assistant Director Mike Staff at mstaff@jfedsnj.org or (856) 673-2528.