UP FRONT How To Survive A Charity Gala ERICA MEYER RAUZIN Special to The Jewish News T he gala charity benefit season is gearing up again, leaving us with a pile of expensive envelopes bearing our names in careful calligraphy (albeit misspell- ed). Having done my duty dan- cing in rhinestone-decorated high heels at various soirees, balls, dinners and dramas, I feel prepared to offer advice to the hard-working givers of galas. Since the unsung heroes who manage these unwieldy events are ac- customed to gratuitous ad- vice, this should roll off them like meringue sliding down the slope of an over-Baked Alaska. I do a lot of charity work, but I addressed my last in- vitation about a decade ago. I'm too big a coward to decide who sits next to whom. I volunteer now on boards that meet in board rooms, in suits, with no menu beyond coffee and Erica Meyer Rauzin is a columnist for the Miami Jewish Tribune. r doughnuts. I'd rather take 100 Boy Scouts into the woods for a week than run the invitation committee of a charity ball. So, having stated my total lack of qualifications as anything other than a pay- ing guest, let me offer these 10 Politely Worded Sugges- tions: 1. Thou shalt not put glitter in invitation envelopes. My friend has a new woven rattan mat in her entrance If you have a great idea for next year's theme, keep it to yourself. hall. She takes any envelope that even hints it might con- tain glitter into the kitchen and opens it over the sink. The last time glitter showered the rattan, it took an hour to vacuum up, after which she was in no mood to pony up $200 a head no matter how worthy the cause. 2. Thou shalt create legible materials. An invitation in tiny silver print on elegant gray paper looks super but is absolutely impossible to read. Type that slants (I don't mean italic, I mean type placed on the page at a 180-degree in- cline), type that reverses out of a dark background, type that has countless curlicues, is pretty but useless. 3. Thou shalt not serve weird food. I respectfully refuse to eat anything I cannot identify at first glance. This is a habit left over from lunches in high school cafeterias, but it has stood me in good stead in some of the world's great restaurants. 4. Thou shalt cater to in- dividual whim. Remember that people just don't eat like they used to. Some people are vegetarians. Have a heart for those who are diabetic, dieting or just ditsy. 5. Thou shalt dare to think Jewish. ROUND UP UED Fights Israeli Pollution Six months after opening its doors, a nonprofit public interest group is drawing at- tention throughout Israel for its aggressive legal actions against polluters. The Union for Envi- ronmental Defense (UED) offers free legal representa- tion to Israeli citizens and grass-roots environmental groups working to combat pollution problems. While recent reports indicate that pollution in Israel is far more severe than previously believed, particularly in the area of water resources, there is little public in- volvement in tackling pollu- tion problems. The TIED recently filed an action against the Ministry of Environment to force the agency to implement emis- sion standards against Haifa's Petroleum In- dustries and the Electric Company, reportedly the two largest polluters in Israel's most polluted city. Both companies are owned by the government and together account for 88 per- cent of the sulfur dioxide pollution in Haifa, UED reports. For information, contact the American Friends of the Israel Union for Envi- ronmental Defense, 5000 W. Esplanade St., Suite 203, Metairie, LA., 70006, or call (504) 888-9430. Local Groups Receive Mazon Grants Mazon - A Jewish Re- sponse to Hunger recently granted major donations to four nonprofit organizations serving the hungry and homeless in Michigan. The Hunger Action Coali- tion of Detroit, the state's principal anti-hunger ad- vocacy organization, was awarded $12,000. Yad Ezra, a kosher food pantry in Southfield, received $4,000. The Food Bank of South Central Michigan, located in Battle Creek, received $4,000 for the purchase of canned protein and vegetables for the 136 non- profit charities under its wing. And the Baldwin Avenue Human Services Center in Pontiac was awarded $6,000 to support the center's feeding pro- gram, which provides food, emergency shelter and help in finding housing and employment. Students Study Arab Graffiti Jerusalem — The writing is on the wall — the walls of Israel, that is, where two Hebrew University resear- chers are reading wall graf- fiti to get the lowdown on Israeli-Palestinian prob- lems. Anne Marie Oliver and Paul Steinberg, both junior research fellows at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advance- ment of Peace, lived with a Palestinian family in Gaza for six months while study- ing the graffiti. Among their finds: clenched fists, guns, maps of historical Palestine and poetry. In general, the graffiti ap- pears to be the main outlet for young Palestinian na- tionalists to express their power, Mr. Steinberg said. "Graffiti is a microcosm of the whole problem here," he added. "One doesn't become terribly hopeful. You really begin to understand the dep- th of anger and frustration of people. It can be unsettling." The two plan to publish a book on their research. YAD VASHEM THE HOLOCAUST HARTS . .. AND HEROES. REHM:HANCE AUTHORITY HAR HAW:ARON IERtMALEM Certificate of Commemorative Citizenship REQUEST FORM Y. of ir, APPUCATIOS FO'R CERTIFICATE OF COMIMESIORATOE ETITLEsSHIP LT= c. cse ' t '. P. M.471:" Eriektie Tke tH Rec., is Heber. LeDera Vic., Pt. ot Re..drere Pacie . Mari Victi, Dam of Er./Aper.L.... ‘f• Yad Vashem Gives Citizenship Jerusalem — Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and museum of Israel, is gran- ting posthumous Israeli citizenship to men, women and children murdered by the Nazis. Certificates of commemorative citizenship will be given to surviving family members or close friends. The purpose of the effort is "not only to comfort relatives who survived, but to bring this generation of Jews closer to the younger generations of Sabras by •- Deals Escort. Eccipad pke. fwd trp , LIstkie ° • altzerctive t- wade sat b cntrep., i l 1 0 cv,43. Tea...a Puy .roar..' temasl_ page., cuctiked aim• ap•ra• Pere of asd • Yad Vashem's Certificate of Commemorative Citizenship. proclaiming in another form their connection to the Jew- ish people of Israel," a Yad Vashem spokesman said. For information, contact Yad Vashem, P.O. Box 3477, Jerusalem, 91034. Compiled by Elizabeth Applebaum THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11