Spirit Award honors Evelyn Rubenstein Community Center

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a 2011 National American Spirit Award to the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston.

National American Spirit Awards, given by the Veterans Affairs Department's National Voluntary Advisory Council, recognize exceptional volunteer recruitment programs. The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center received its award in the Senior Recruitment category, in recognition of its Senior Companions Program at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. The program is funded in part by United Way and the Turner Foundation.

"This is a great honor for the ERJCC," said the center's Senior Companions Project director, Marilyn Vargiu, who received the award on behalf of the organization recently in Charleston, S.C.

The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center is located at 5601 S. Braeswood Blvd. in Houston. For more information, visit erjcchouston.org or call 713-729-3200.