56 Friday, December 22, 1918

THE DETROIT BOSH NEWS

Detroit Section of National Council of Jewish Women Recalls
Milestones in Advance of 85th Anniversary Celebration Locally

cal culture, and in 1902,
with the establishment of a
scholarship fund. As early
as 1905, the organization
joined with others to pro-
mote social action by pro-
testing the inhumanites
taking place in the Congo.
The serving of penny
lunches to school children in
1911 pointed the direction
which the organization was
to follow in many areas. The
process began with a
thorough investigation into
the needs of hungry chil-
dren and how best to serve
them. Volunteers prepared
sandwiches in their homes,
took them to the schools and
sold them for a penny so
that countless children
would not be hungry during
the day. The Detroit Board
of Education adopted the
program and launched a
city-wide school lunch pro-
gram.

In preparation for its cel-
ebration of the 85th an-
niversary of the National
Council of Jewish Women,
the Greater Detroit Section
recalled some major events
in its own history in ad-
vance of the Jan. 15
community-wide event at
Temple Beth El.
The spark which ignited
the formation of NCJW was
the Chicago World's Fair, in
1893, where women from all
over the country presented
a Hall of Religion. The
Jewish Women's Club of
Temple Beth El, which was
later to become affiliated
with NCJW as its Detroit
Section, sent a committee to
help work on the presenta-
tion at the fair.
The Jewish Women's
Club from its inception in
1891, concerned itself with
visits to the sick, classes in
English, literature, physi-

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After the First World
War in 1918, NCJW
formed a unit for the Red
Cross that served in
France. In 1925, the
Jewish Women's Club
joined NCJW as its De-
troit Section.
During the Depression
the Detroit Section con-
cluded the Council House
Project, a residence for
young women, in 1930, and
in 1933, in conjunction with
the Young Women's He-
brew Association and the
Jewish Community Center,
a camp for working girls
was established in Jeddo,
Mich. Council ran the camp
until the early 1940s.
The first Council resale
shop opened at 89 Rowena
St. in 1934. The purpose of
the shop was two-fold: to
raise money for local NCJW
projects and to provide those
who could not afford more,
an opportunity to buy good
used clothing.
In conjunction with the
Jewish Center and the
Jewish Welfare Federation,
Detroit Section established
the 12th Street Council
Center which opened in De-
cember 1944. Not only was
this the first joint effort of
these organizations, a social
agency working in conjunc-
tion with a volunteer mem-
bership organization, but it
was also the first branch of
any Jewish Center in the
country.
A total of 125 NCJW
volunteers serviced the
branch progranis which
included a "latch-key"
recreation program for
children after school,
since many mothers were
working during the war.
Volunteers searched out
the elderly so that they
could use the 12th Street
facilities. The older groups
emerged later as the "Gol-
den Agers."

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After the war, NCJW
volunteers helped refugees
fill out citizenship papers
and locate lost relatives in
conjunction with other
Jewish agencies. The De-
troit Section contributed
$10,000 to the National
Overseas Program and
Service to the Foreign Born.
In 1945-46, NCJW estab-
lished and paid for homes in
Paris and Athens to help
homeless refugees learn
new languages and skills
for employment.
In 1947 the Detroit Sec-
tion urged the government
to adopt national resolu-
tions on Palestine to abro-
gate laws restricting Jews
from purchasing land there.
When the second resale
shop opened on Puritan
Avenue in 1955, another
idea came to fruition. The
Angel Ball was launched to
thank -members and non-
members for their contribu-
tidns of clothing and house-
hold items which support all
of NCJW's local projects.
Tickets had to be earned
through contributions.
Council moved its offices
to Council House on West
McNichols Road in Detroit,
and the first suburban
branch of Detroit Section
was formed in 1951. Several
years later, a senior adult
lounge program started ad-
jacent to Council House to
serve the social and rec-
reational needs of the el-
derly, a program started in
1957, and adopted by the
Jewish Center in 1960. Op-
eration Friendship, another
lounge program for re-
cuperating mental patients,
started in 1960 after a sur-
vey of local community
needs. This program, too,
became part of a larger
mental health program in
Detroit.
In 1962 The Orchards, a
residential treatment cen-
ter for emotionally dis-
turbed young boys, was in-
stituted. A home was
purchased in Livonia,
owned and operated by the
Detroit Section.
Detroit Section contrib-
uted $5,000 to the Hebrew
University High School in
Israel, and then gave an
additional $5,000 for the
Detroit Room. Later, an-
other Israeli program was
started by NCJW in Hatsur
as part of the NCJW Re-
search Institute for Innova-
tion in Education to develop
new techniques and mate-
rials for educating disad-
vantaged children.
In 1964 the Custer
Elementary School Project
began with 100 volunteers
who served as tutors and
teachers' aides, a program
which is still in several sub-
urban schools.
A new suburban office
was located in South-
field, and the Detroit sec-
tion became the Greater
Detroit Section of NCJW.
Oakland Operation
Friendship patterned
after the original pro-
gram was established in
Royal Oak in 1970.
Meals on Wheels was

launched in 1973. Kosher
meals are provided to more
than 100 people daily who
are either too old or too ill to
prepare food for themselves:
A total of 150 volunteers are
involved in the preparation
and delivery of meals five
days a week.
NCJW became affiliated
with WICS, a coalition
of women's organizations
whose purpose is to provide
supportive services for dis-
advantaged young women
in the community.

The Greater Detroit Sec-
tion launched another pro-
gram in 1977 after
thoroughly investigating
the needs of single parent
Jewish families in the
community. The SPACE
program is currently servic-
ing the families of single,
divorced or separated per-

sons and their children by
offering them supportive
programs.

The Burn Prevention
program has just gotten
under way. It provides
educational materials
to teach kindergarten
through third grade stu-
dents in selected schools
the hazards of fire.
Summarizing the Greater
Detroit Section's history,
Phyllis Welling, president,
said, "For 85 years count-
less services have been per-
formed by NCJW members;
but the- organization con-
tinues to leok forward to the
future where there remains
much to be done. Most
NCJW volunteers have
learned that in meaningful
service to others one finds
the greatest fulfillment of
self."

Wishing All Our
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Filled With
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