Last year yielded a bumper crop of babies to Dayton’s Jewish community — at least 18 by the Jewish Federation’s count.

To celebrate this mini-population explosion — and to connect young Jewish children and their families across the Dayton area — the Jewish Federation and its PJ Library program will host two events on Sunday, Feb. 15 at Run Around Fun Town.

At 10 a.m., the Federation will present the PJ Library Shalom Babies Brunch for the newest members of the community and their families.

Beginning at 11 a.m., all children and families are invited to attend the PJ Library Shayna Punim Party with musician Marc Rossio and storyteller Charlette Jouan from Washington-Centerville Public Library.

Federation’s campaign events manager, Caryl Segalewitz, says the idea is for young, Jewish families to get to know each other.

“We’d like the families of these babies to meet, begin creating connections to one another, and we’d like to get a group portrait that will be a great keepsake,” she says.

A national program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation with local support from Marcia and Ed Kress and the Jewish Federation, PJ Library provides families raising Jewish children with a free monthly Jewish book or CD. Children from the age of six months through 8 years receive the items by mail to introduce them to core Jewish values.

Run Around Fun Town is located at 1218 E. Stroop Rd., Kettering. Both events are free.

To R.S.V.P. for the Shalom Babies Brunch and the Shayna Punim Party (by Feb. 8) or to enroll in the PJ Library program, call Segalewitz at 610-1555.

­— Marshall Weiss

To read the complete February 2015 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.