DETROIT

NCJW Closes Detroit Store,
Plans New Shop In Berkley

SUSAN GRANT

Staff Writer

ational Council of
Jewish Women closed
its thrift shop on Van
Dyke and Eight Mile roads
in Detroit last month, but
will soon open another store
to replace it. The NCJW's
thrift store in Royal Oak
remains in operation.
The Van Dyke store, which
opened five years ago, was
losing money, said NCJW
volunteer Marsha Gordon,
who is in charge of the thrift
stores.
At the end of March, the
store manager and four
employees were dismissed,
Gordon said. Volunteers
began cleaning the store and
sorting through the piles of
clothing that remained in
the building. The clothes
will be given to other
charities.
Meanwhile, other NCJW
volunteers are working to
open a new thrift shop on 12
Mile Road in downtown
Berkley. Gordon expects the
store will open in early
summer.
Gordon hopes mistakes
which led to the closing of

the Van Dyke shop can be
avoided at the Berkley store.
While there were problems
with the management at the
Van Dyke store, Gordon also
blames herself.
"There should have been
more people in the store. We
needed to have more hands-

Gordon expects the
Berkley store to
open in early
summer.

on control," Gordon said.
But due to the location few
volunteers wanted to drive
to the shop.
Because the Berkley store
is closer to NCJW's
Southfield office, Gordon
hopes volunteers can work
at the shop. NCJW plans to
hire a manager to oversee
the store.
Unlike the Van Dyke
store, Gordon wants to fill
the new shop with upscale
used clothes.
"My vision would be to
have the store become a
year-round Fashion Spree,"
said Gordon, referring to
NCJW's annual fall sale of
designer and quality used

clothes. "We want to offer
high quality designer labels
at a quarter of the cost."
But donations of quality
used clothing have fallen as
people sell their used clothes
in garage sales or to con-
signment stores, Gordon
said. "Our hope is people
will think of us first before
selling clothes to consign-
ment shops. People need to
remember what we do and
why we raise the funds."
About 55 percent of the
money used to support
NCJW programs comes from
the thrift shops, Gordon
said. If the stores don't make
money, NCJW has fewer
funds for its community pro-
grams including Family to
Family and Meals on
Wheels.
To save money, NCJW is
limiting its pick-up service,
Gordon said. In the past
year, NCJW has spent
$40,000 to pick up clothing
and take it to the stores.

People can donate clothing
at the Lincoln Road store in
Royal Oak or at the Fashion
Spree office at Nine Mile and
Coolidge roads in Oak
Park. ❑

Cartoon Video Teaches
Children Reading Skills

SUSAN GRANT

Staff Writer

A

Bloomfield Hills
school psychologist
has transformed a
1935 cartoon into a reading
aid.
Bob Mossman, a former
teacher, created a 15-minute
video last year called
"Sparky Saves the Day."
Designed to improve the
reading skills of children
between the ages of four to
seven, the video tells the
story of a dog named Sparky
who protects his new home
from an intruder.
Often when adults read to
children, the children rarely
see the words, Mossman
said. Instead they memorize
the story.
But "Sparky Saves the
Day" allows children to read
with the narrator by alter-
nating cartoon images with
the text,he said.
Because the text is written
in rhymes such as "Tom is a
good boy, and his dog is a

toy. Tom wants a pet, but
Mom thinks, 'Not yet,' "
children have an easier time
reading it, Mossman said.
"Generally children
memorize the rhymes in the
beginning, but then they
learn to read them," he said.
Once children master the
rhymes, they are eager to
learn the rest of the story.
As the child's reading
skills increase, so does his
self-esteem, Mossman said.
"The success also increases a
child's interest in reading."
Mossman interest in
creating a learning tool like
"Sparky Saves the Day"
began 10 years ago while
reading to his two-year-old
daughter, Carrie. "She
would memorize the words
instead of reading them," he
said.
After some experiments,
Mossman thought about
creating a cartoon and
writing a story to go with it,
but it was too expensive. In-
stead, he discovered a 1935
cartoon called "Scottie Finds
A Home." With the help of

his wife, Marilyn, Mossman
wrote a story to go with the
film and changed the title to
"Sparky Saves the Day."
Although his daughter is
too old to realize the video's
benefits, Mossman is testing
his tape among Detroit area
school districts. About 300
children in Bloomfield Hills,
Birmingham, Troy, Farm-
ington Hills, Mt. Clemens
and other cities have used
the tape.
Pat Pickens of Troy, whose
daughter Heather, 6, has
listened to the tape for six
weeks, is pleased with the
results.
"She really wanted to
read. Before she had the
video she only knew a couple
words like no and yes,"
Pickens said. Now Heather
reads a printout of the story
without using the tape. She
also reads other books.
"I think children enjoy it
more when it doesn't appear
to be a teaching tool. It's
kind of like having a book
that comes to life on TV."

❑

Mrs. Silverfarb presents a check to Matthew Citron.

Women's League
Presents Awards

Winners were announced
on April 1, at Beth Achim
Synagogue, for the League of
Jewish Women's Organiza-
tions annual Youth Awards
program. These awards have
been given each year for 45
years to Jewish high school
seniors with high academic
achievement, a Jewish educa-
tion, and involvement in the
Jewish and non-Jewish
community.
The 1990 Youth Awards
winner received a $500 check
from Mrs. Grant (Betty)
Silverfarb who donates award
funds.
The 1990 winner, Matthew
Citron, is the son of Dr. Henry
and Janice Citron. Matthew,
sponsored by Congregation
Beth Abraham Hillel Moses,
is president of his United
Synagogue Youth chapter and
received the Scholar Athlete
Award at Andover High
School where he is active in
basketball and an A student.
Citron was one of two young
people from Michigan chosen
to participate in the USY
Poland-Israel pilgrimage
last summer. Since his
return, Matthew has
presented a slide show on the
Holocaust in Poland to youth
groups.
Honorable mention for 1990
was given to Sheri Wagner,
daughter of Don and Dottie
Wagner; and Amy Simon,
daughter of Frederick and
Evelyn Simon. Wagner was
sponsored by Congregation

Shaarey Zedek; Simon was
sponsored by Temple Beth El.
Simon and Wagner received
special gifts from the League
for their outstanding com-
munity service.

Project Chametz
Nets 1,000 Pounds

ALAN HITSKY

Associate Editor

p

roject Chametz netted
a half-ton of food for
hungry persons in the
Detroit area this Passover.
The second annual project,
sponsored by The Jewish
News and the Jewish Com-
munity Council, aimed to
encourage Jews who were
cleaning their homes of non-
Passover foods to donate the
items at four locations
throughout the community.
Jim Macy, director of the
Food Bank of Oakland
County, said collections
were down from the inau-
gural program last year,
when 2,000 pounds of food
were donated.
The Food Bank this year
did not accept open packages
because county health offi-
cials were concerned about
cleanliness, Macy said.
Kosher foods among the
contributions were donated
to Yad Ezra, the kosher food
pantry that opened in
February on 10 Mile near
Greenfield. ❑

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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