Fanchon Auman has been involved in the JCC Maccabi Games for 24 years and twice hosted athletes at her home in Chesterfield.

Over that time, Auman, who is serving as the director of the upcoming games in St. Louis, has gotten to know many teenagers. And contrary to popular belief, “teenagers basically haven’t changed over the years,” she believes.

Now Auman, the director of the sports recreation and aquatics at the Jewish Community Center, is out to recruit hosts for athletes at the games, which take place from July 31 to Aug. 5. The organization has found 600 beds so far and expects to meet its goal of 1,000, Auman said. 

The games, she said, are not only an opportunity for hosts and their children to make lasting connections with Jews from other parts of the country but also to serve as ambassadors for St. Louis. 

“I see the games as an opportunity to show off St. Louis as the wonderful city that it is,” said Auman. “Think about how St. Louis people are. They are very welcoming; they are concerned about people. When you go to a grocery store, people stop you and they say, ‘Hi, how are you doing?’” 

But to some people who aren’t familiar with the city, the first thing that might come to mind at this moment is the August 2014 police shooting of the unarmed black teenager Michael Brown and the subsequent riots in Ferguson.

Athletes will be donating items to help students in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. 

“Anywhere in the world, there is sometimes bad press. This is a time when we can give back to our community and help our community,” Auman said.

And then there are the connections. Auman recalls participants and hosts talking about airport moments, when they noticed someone wearing a shirt from a Maccabi Games they participated in and started a conversation. There has also been communication among family members from one games to the next and requests about staying with the same hosts. 

“To be part of this experience is something that doesn’t happen all the time and it’s something that you’ll remember for a long time,” she said. 

Hosts preparing for the games offered a variety of reasons for why they were willing to welcome teenagers with their iPhones and big appetites.

Marty Oberman and his wife Merle hosted athletes in 1993 and 1996 — the first two years St. Louis held the games — from San Francisco and Memphis. Years later, one of their sons started talking with a basketball player who was visiting his fraternity at Indiana University. After a few minutes, he said “Wait a minute, we stayed at your house for the Maccabi Games!”

For Oberman, a financial advisor, and his wife, he said, “the best moments are just having a bunch of Jewish kids hanging around, listening to them talk about what their lives are like back home and asking them where they plan to go to college someday. What do their parents do?”

The first times the family hosted, they still had three children in the house but they are now “empty nesters,” said Oberman, who has offered to host four athletes at his home in Creve Coeur. “The young people help energize us.”

Myrna Hershman has volunteered for both the Maccabi Games and the J’s Senior Olympics and enjoys the spectrum of ages. A former swimmer who now times the races at the seniors’ competition, she is glad to see that teens are involved in the sport. 

“A lot of these things are lifelong activities and there’s no reason that if they are swimming now, they can’t be swimming into their 70s and 80s,” said Hershman, a member of Temple Israel who describes herself as a “professional volunteer.” Hershman also has hosted singers for Opera Theater of St. Louis. “We sort of become their groupies.” They will then travel to see them perform in theaters in Los Angeles and Kansas City.

Meanwhile, when she and her husband host athletes, they also try and attend as many of their games or meets as possible. 

“It’s a vicarious pleasure. It’s like going to your children’s soccer games or baseball games,” said Hershman, who has three children. She and her husband also visited Ted Drewes Frozen Custard for the first time because their guests had heard about it.

While Oberman, Hershman and others talk about how much they enjoy playing host, there is still some reluctance in the Jewish community. Oberman said he has pitched the experience to friends and family.

“It’s the unknown,” said Oberman, whose grandson will be competing in baseball “They don’t know whether the kids are going to be up all night like it’s a slumber party. The fact is, these kids are tired they are going to want to go to sleep pretty early.”

Auman also said she hears a myth from people who “think they are too old to host.”

“Those houses are awesome because you’re bringing the teenagers into your home and you treat them like your own kids,” she said.

Another hurdle that people are sometimes concerned about is the number of beds. And while each athlete needs to have his or her own bed, the organization can also provide hosts with air mattresses, Auman said. Each host must house at least two athletes of the same gender.

Judy Grosz, who is serving on the housing committee for the games, has had boarders in the past and said the games remind her of old home week, the traditional gathering when people spread out across the country return home.

In 2003, the most recent St. Louis games, Grosz said, “I ended up seeing people I hadn’t seen in years and reconnecting with old friends.”

And making new connections to the games. 

Mindy Pultman recalled that in 2003, she hosted two athletes who acted as big sisters to her son and daughter who were in elementary school at the time. 

Now her son, Sam, is 15 and competing in soccer. He has recruited teammates from his club team to join the Jewish squad, and his mom said, “I think they actually could win something, which would be exciting.”

Pultman, who lives in Clayton, said her son competing is the biggest reason for her offering to host but that she would still do it even if she didn’t have children involved. 

Just because your kids “are not the right age or aren’t Jewish,” she said, “doesn’t mean you can’t still benefit from the experience.”