As the Membership Director at the South Hills JCC, I often hear comments from our members about the facility, the equipment, the classes, the water temperature in the pool and the instructors.

I recently received a compliment about one of our newer personal trainers.  Mallery Fascetti has been a personal trainer at the JCC for less than 6 months.  In that brief time, she has built her clientele with her knowledge, skill and positive attitude.  She is always excited to see both her peers and her clients, and her enthusiasm is contagious.  You cannot help but smile when Mallery is around.

On a recent Saturday, Mallery was training one of her clients, a young man who has severe physical limitations and lack of speech as a result of Angelman Syndrome, a rare neuro-genetic disorder.  As always, Mallery was patient with this client, explaining what she wanted him to do and making him laugh and smile as they went through the routine.

You might think that this is her job and she is performing the tasks that are required, but one of our members, who was also working out close by, offered this unsolicited praise to me:

“She has a real gift.  Her patience and determination to give her client the best workout she can is admirable and quite honestly, under the circumstances, remarkable.”

Mallery embodies what we all strive to do here at the JCC – meet the needs of our members no matter what their capabilities are and to do it with enthusiasm and passion.  We aspire to embody the Jewish teaching to “love others as one loves oneself,” and Mallery exemplifies this teaching.

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