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After breaking ground last December, the Chabad of Central Jersey, located at Rutgers University, is on track to complete its 55,000-square-foot expansion by September 2010.

The addition will cost a total of $13 million, of which approximately 50 percent has already been raised. The construction will continue uninterrupted with the addition set to open next fall as expected, said Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, executive director of the Chabad House-Lubavitch of Central and Southern New Jersey.

People do not want to donate their money to an organization that is cutting back and where projects are slowing or shutting down completely, Carlebach said, "People want to put their money where there's growth."

The center, which primarily serves the Rutgers student population, is also the headquarters for nine other Chabad houses in the central New Jersey region. The size of the center will more than double after the expansion is complete, growing from its current 35,000 square feet to a total of 90,000 square feet.

"Before this addition, we considered ourselves the largest Jewish center at any public university in the United States, after this we are certain to be the largest in the world," Carlebach said.

The addition will be in the style of the current building, which is modeled after the Lubavitcher Rebbe's house in Brooklyn, and will even be constructed out of the same type of bricks that make up the New York mansion.

The addition will include a dining hall that accommodates up to 750 people, a men's dormitory for 75 students, exercise rooms, computer lounges, and multipurpose rooms. The addition will also allow for the expansion of the sanctuary and library.

Carlebach described the center after its completion as a "Jewish campus within this (the Rutgers) campus."

According to Carlebach, contributions towards the addition have continued even in these tough economic times.

"I've been doing this for 31 years, and I don't cease to be surprised on a daily basis by the generosity of people," he said.

It has not only been those with Rutgers connections who have donated toward the expansion. A woman, who never attended Rutgers and who had no children was put on the mailing list after donating a car to Chabad 15 years ago. When the woman passed away recently, she bequeathed a large sum to the expansion project in her will, Carlebach said.

"People have responded in a way that even we we're surprised. There are people around who want this to happen," he said.

Carlebach explained that when Chabad first came to Rutgers in 1978, there was no Jewish presence on the College Avenue campus as Hillel had decided at the time to headquarter itself on the Douglas campus.

For three years, Chabad rented out a room in the Rutgers Student Center. Recognizing the need for a larger, more permanent space, Chabad purchased a converted firehouse in 1981, though within a year even that space was deemed too small.

Then in 1994, Les Turchin, the founder of the Tops Appliance City chain, donated a large sum for the construction of a new building. Just two years later, the current 35,000-square-foot center opened its doors, which was named after Turchin. "When it opened, there was no such place such -- a combination of housing, food, and programming within one building," Carlebach said.

Carlebach said that in addition to the genoristy of donors, the Chabad center in New Brunswick has thrived due to the cooperation of the Rutgers University administration and the enthusiasm of the student body.

"The Jewish community here is keenly aware and interested about what goes on with campus life," said Carlebach. "The students at Rutgers are tuned in to their Judaism."

With the completion of the addition, Carlebach said that Chabad center will be better suited to promote Jewish life on campus and in the community.

"The problem is that people don't look at Judaism as a major part of their lives," he said. "We're here to change that."