As we’ve done for more years than we can remember, The Chronicle will shower the first Jewish baby of 2013 with prizes. Information about our annual contest, and the 2013 prize package, appears on pages 18 and 19 of The Jewish Chronicle newspaper.
Last year’s first Jewish baby, Gabriel Yehudah Goodbinder, was born on Jan. 2. Coincidentally his mother, Darcy Kroll Goodbinder, was the community’s first Jewish baby in 1980.
Gabriel weighed 6 pounds, 3.4 ounces and was 18 inches long at birth. At 11 months old, Gabriel weighs 18 pounds and is 29 inches tall.
Gabriel’s mother said last year’s first Jewish baby is getting close to walking.
“He pushes his walker around and holds onto furniture,” she said.
“It’s been an amazing journey and he is a wonderful, wonderful child. He is so happy. He loves to be out in public and be around people and we’re very blessed with what he’s turned into,” said Goodbinder, who added that Gabriel will be a big brother in May.
The Goodbinders are hoping to spread some of their good fortune with others when they celebrate Gabriel’s first birthday. The party will be held at the JFS Food Pantry. Guests will be asked to bring items to donate to the pantry to the party.
The Chronicle’s First Jewish Baby contest is limited to residents of the five-county greater Kansas City area (Jackson, Clay and Platte in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte in Kansas), and the birth must take place in greater Kansas City.
Parents should call Chronicle Editor Barbara Bayer, 913-951-8425, or contact her via email at as soon as possible after th child is born. The parent or parents must agree to be interviewed and photographed along with the baby for a story in the newspaper to be eligible to be awarded prizes.