LOCAL NEWS

Maple-Drake JCC To
Display AIDS Quilt

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

T

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12

J

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1991

he Quilt is coming.
The NAMES Project
AIDS Memorial Quilt
is coming to the Jewish Com-
munity Center in West
Bloomfield in November and
will be on display from Dec. 1,
World AIDS Day, through
Dec. 14.
The Quilt, representing 13
percent of all U.S. AIDS
deaths and about 3 percent of
AIDS deaths worldwide, is
brought to Detroit through
the Michigan Jewish AIDS
Coalition, formed in June.
Acquired Immune Deficien-
cy Syndrome is a failure of the
immune system to ward off
infections and diseases. There
is no known cure.
"This is our group's first
project," said Nancy Gad-
Hart president of MJAC. "We
decided to begin by heighten-
ing communal awareness
about the AIDS crisis. We
need the help of the Jewish
community and its Jewish
agencies!'
MJAC, based at Temple
Israel, is committed to in-
creasing AIDS education and
awareness, creating family
support groups and patient
direct services and
establishing a hot-line refer-
ral service.
As of April, 179 cases of
AIDS were reported in
Michigan, according to the
Michigan Department of
Health. And according to the
Centers of Disease Control in
Atlanta, 100,777 people have
died of AIDS and AIDS-
related diseases as of
November, out of 167,803
cases reported in the United
States since 1981.
"We hope the quilt will
start eductional awareness,"
said Susie Leemaster, co-
president of MJAC. "We are
starting to get services and
support groups started."
The Quilt, created four
years ago, was conceived in
November 1985 by Cleve
Jones, a gay rights activist in
San Francisco. When 'he
heard that 1,000 San Fran-
ciscans died of AIDS, he
organized a march and asked
everyone to write down the
names of their friends and
relatives who had died of
AIDS.
The individual pieces of
paper, each with a name, look-
ed to him like a patchwork
quilt, said Michelle Cina
Mars, spokeswoman for the
NAMES Project. Inspired by
the sight, Mr. Jones started to

formulate plans for a larger
memorial. A year later, he
created the first panel for the
NAMES Project AIDS
Memorial Quilt, in memory of
his friend, Marvin Feldman.
Since 1987, the NAMES
Project displayed the Quilt on
the Capitol Mall in Washing-
ton, D.C. during the National
March on Washington for Les-
bian and Gay Rights. The
Quilt returned to
Washington, D.C. in October
1988 where 8,288 panels were
displayed on the Ellipse in
front of the White House.
The Quilt, which has
14,000 panels, now covers the
length and width of 5.6 foot-
ball fields. Only a portion of
the Quilt is being shipped to
Detroit.
"The quilt will need
volunteers to stand next to it
and answer any questions,"
Mrs. Gad-Harf said. "Anyone
who has lost someone as a
result of AIDS may con-
tribute a panel."
MJAC asks anyone in-
terested in volunteering time
or money to the project to con-
tact Susie Leemaster or Nan-
cy Gad-Harf at 661-5700.
Contributions may be sent to
MJAC at Temple Israel, 5725
Walnut Lake Road, West
Bloomfield, 48323. ❑

Shaarey Zedek
Parenting Center

Ground will be broken for
the new Eugene and Marcia
Applebaum • Beth Ha-Yeled
Building and Jewish Paren-
ting Center in West Bloom-
field 2 p.m. Sept. 22 at Con-
gregation Shaarey Zedek's
B'nai Israel on Walnut Lake
Road. Siegal-Tuomaala
Associates of Farmington
Hills are the project
architects.
The purpose of the Paren-
ting Center will be to tackle
the fundamental and very
pressing issues facing Jewish
parents today using state-of-
the-art techniques. Congrega-
tion Shaarey Zedek's goal is
to educate parents — through
classes, a variety of program-
matic formats and a complete
multimedia Resource Center.
The Parenting Center will
focus on strengthening the
support community for
Jewish parents who live dai-
ly with the challenges and
joys of raising their Jewish
children in the 1990s. Dr.
Helene Cohen will be the
director.
Refreshments and enter-
tainment will be provided.

