64 Friday, Jude 9, 1978
THE DETROIT JEWISIT Nuts
Message from the President of Federation Message from Junior Division President
By MARTIN E. CITRIN
Federation's Junior Division has every reason to be proud as it celebrates its 40th
anniversary of service to the Detroit Jewish community next week.
Since 1938 this organization of young adults, which now has more than 2,000 mem-
bers, has been a vital part of our thriving community.
Nowhere is there a better training ground for future leaders of Federation and the
Allied Jewish Campaign-Israel Emergency Fund.
The zeal with which Junior Division members throw themselves into their Campaign
work is an example to all of us. The division's contributors are constantly changing,
through movement to other divisions, or through movement out of the community; still,
Junior Division regularly incre9cec the number of pledges it secures every year.
Synagogues and religious schools throughout the
area have noted the fine job Junior Division does with
its schools and youth campaign, bringing the Federa-
tion story to Jewish students from the early grades
through high school.
Division members regularly volunteer their services to
various Federation agencies and provide invaluable assis-
tance to medical professionals in the yearly Tay-Sachs sc-
reening program at Sinai Hospital.
The men and women who have served as Junior Division
officers and volunteers over the past 40 years are to be
commended; the fruits of their labor are evident today in
the strong organization now celebrating its 40th anniver-
sary. Praise is due too to the division's director, Lilian
Bernstein, who has worked tirelessly for the division for the
past 12 years.
The Jewish Welfare Federation is proud to salute you.
By JEFFREY N. BORIN
It is with much joy and pride that we will celebrate our 40th anniversary of service to
the Jewish community of Detroit on June 14. For the past four decades the Junior
Division of the Jewish Welfare Federation has carried to the young men and women of
our community the message of"Zedaka" — concern for the commitment to the health and
well-being of our fellow Jews at home and around the world. In so doing, Junior Division
has provided a vital link in the continuity of our community family.
Working together on creative educational and community service programs, and the
yearly fund - raising efforts of the Allied Jewish Campaign - Israel Emergency Fund,
Junior Division members have gained valuable insight into the life-sustaining services
provided by the Federation, its agencies and beneficiaries.
The fellowship and sense of responsibility fostered by
these important programs over the years have initiated in
literally thousands of young people a lifetime of charitable
giving and Jewish community service.
Junior Division holds a special place in the hearts of
all those who have been active over the years. It is
testimony to these warm feelings that so many past
members have helped to plan and are participating in
our exciting 40th anniversary meeting on June 14.
To all of those who have given so generously of their time,
dollars and love over the past 40 years, we extend a
heartfelt thnnirq for the precious legacy that you have pas-
sed to our generation. To those who follow us in this impor-
tant endeavor, we pledge to continue to build with pride
upon the past achievements of the Division and to continue
to dedicate ourselves to the welfare of the Jewish commun-
ity.
JEFFREY BORIN
Forty Years of Communal Service
Junior Division: Fund-Raising, Social Action, Social Activities
for the Young Men and Women of Detroit's Jewish Community
Forty years ago yester-
day, on June 8, 1938, a
group of young adults met
at the invitation of Jewish
Welfare Federation Execu-
tive Director Isidore
Sobeloff to discuss plans for
a youth group to be as-
sociated with Federation.
That and subsequent or-
ganizational meetings re-
sulted in the formation of
the Junior Section of the
Detroit Service Group. And
from the Junior Service
Group (as it became known)
grew today's Junior Divi-
sion, which now involves
more than 2,000 Jewish
young adults in its fund-
raising, educational, social
and service activities.
Though World War II
brought the young group's
activities to a virtual
standstill, the organization
was re-activated in 1946. In
1953 it was renamed the
Junior Division and made a
formal part of the Jewish
Welfare Federation.
From its earliest years,
Junior Division has had
close ties with Federation
committees and agencies.
Junior Division members
serve as liaisons to the
boards of Federation's
agencies, where they re-
ceive a valuable educa-
tion about the workings
of the Jewish communal
organizations.
This liaison work has
helped produce several gen-
erations of Campaign, Fed-
eration and agency leaders,
who regularly "graduate"
from the Junior Division to
positions of responsibility in
the community at large.
An important function of
the Junior Service Group
was to raise funds for com-
munal activities and to help
Jews overseas. During the
1940s and 1950s, members
went door-to-door through
the community, soliciting
pledges for the Allied
Jewish Campaign. The
Junior Service Group also
participated in the Com-
munity Chest drives,
forerunners of today's Un-
ited Foundation Torch
Drives.
In the 1960s, the tele-
.
Junior Division's "Burnie Bird" teaches childred
about burn prevention in 1972.
phone replaced the doorbell
for most of Junior Division's
Campaign work. Today,
more than 100 of the divi-
sion's 350 Campaign volun-
teers work on the annual
telethon.
Since its contributors
move on to other Cam-
paign divisions as they
reach their mid-30s,
Junior Division is con-
stantly searching for new
members. Somehow the
youthful campaigners
manage to secure hun-
dreds of new pledges
every year. In the 1978
Campaign, Junior Divi-
sion has so far raised
$201,323 from 2,237 per-
sons, the largest amount
ever raised by the divi-
sion, from the largest
number of contributors.
Of these, 710 were new
gifts.
Junior Division has never
meant all work and no play.
Campaign events often be-
come social occasions as
well.
In the early days, division
sections held cocktail par-
ties and dinners as part of
the fund - raising effort. To-
day, the Men's Pre-
Campaign Committee
sponsors an annual cocktail
party, while the Women's
Pre-Campaign Committee
holds a brunch or luncheon.
Some parties are just for
fun. At the end of the 1955
Campaign, the division held
a Victory Fair complete
with square dance. The
Serendipity Ball became an
annual event for a time in
the mid-1960s. In 1975,
Junior Division went back
20 years with a Fabulous
Fifties dance. They rejoined
the current decade a year
later with a Disco Party.
Among the most suc-
cessful of Junior Divi-
sion's educational ac-
tivities is its lecture
series. These meetings
are open to all young
adults in the community
and often attract more
than 200 persons. One of
the highlights of the
series this year was a
special educational
program featuring the
film "Homage to Chagall:
The Colours of Love."
Lecture series meetings
are often a person's first
contact with Junior Divi-
sion.
Several times a year the
division holds "involvement
seminars" to teach new
members about the prog-
rams of the division and
Federation.
\fter World War II, the
Junior Service Group coor-
dinated the local "SOS" ef-
fort, part of a nationwide
project to "Save Overseas
Survivors."
Twice the group arranged
for one-day house collec-
tions of clothing and canned
goods to be sent overseas.
The members also packaged
the goods.
Through the years,
Junior Division has
sponsored several impor-
tant service projects. In
the late 1960s and early
1970s, volunteers par-
ticipated in a summer
tutorial program for De-
troit public school
youngsters. The tutorial
group met three times a
week, twice in a clas-
sroom setting at Temple
Israel, and once for an
educational and enjoy-
able outing. The program
ended after the summer
of 1971, when the Detroit
Public Schools began
their own summer pro-
gram.
Junior Division's burn
prevention program was
also copied by the Detroit
Public Schools. Begun in
the early 1970s, the prog-
ram featured a character
named "Burnie Bird" who
traveled to area elementary
schools to teach about burn
prevention.
When the Detroit Public
Schools developed a similar
program, with the help of
the National Institute for
Burn Medicine, the South-
eastern Michigan Chapter
of the American Red Cross
and several other institu-
tions, they renamed the bird
"Burnie Penguin."
For several years Junior
Division volunteers have
been helping medical pro-
fessionals from Sinai Hospi-
tal in a screening program
for Tay-Sachs disease, a
genetic disorder which af-
fects children of eastern
European Jewish descent.
The division's latest
project is the preparation
of an informational
brochure for residents of
Jewish Federation
Apartments. The pam-
phlet will tell residents
how to use and care for
appliances in their
apartments; it will also
describe the facilities av-
ailable to them in the
neighborhood.
Almost since its inception
the Junior Division has
been interested in educat-
ing the children of the
Jewish community about
Federation's services and
how the Campaign helps
provide them. A schools and
youth campaign sends divi-
sion members into area re-
ligious and day schools with
the AJC—IEF message.
The children often contri-
bute to the Campaign. But
more important than their
monetary gifts is their sense
of contributing to the well-
being of the community and
their increased knowledge
of how Federation works.
Junior Division's 40th
anniversary party will fea-
ture ice cream, a birthday
cake and a fair share of nos-
talgia. But despite the re-
membrances of the past,
Junior Division's eyes are
on the future. At the ripe
age of 40 its spirit remains
young.
The humorous and nostalgie "Junior Division Re-
vue" is rehersed for Wednesday's anniversary celeb-
ration.