Flint native Bette Heidenrich
says love given comes back

tenfold.

tended family — my Russian friends, though I
don't like to identify them as Russian so much.
They're my friends, that's all."
She regularly prepares gifts and helps with
parties for new Americans — about 200 of whom
now live in Flint — and has hosted events at her
own home. She supplies the paper goods for a
picnic held annually for all Jews from the for-
mer Soviet Union and cooks much of the food
(more than 150 have been known to attend). Her
"adopted" Russian family, the Folshanskiys, in-
cludes daughters and sons-in-law and grand-

Bette Heidenrich with her grandson, David; husband, Marvin; and son, Lewis.

children and a matriarch Mrs. Heidenrich
describes as "like a sister to me."
When Bette and Marvin Heidenrich went on
a vacation to Florida, they brought members
of the Folshanskiy family along.
On Mother's Day, the Folshanskiy daughters
send Bette cards. They once wrote: "You're like

another mother to us."
"I've heard all that — about how you have to
watch out for the Russians, they'll just take ad-
vantage of you — and it's just not true. They're
making Flint into a Jewish community again,
and they have made my life so much richer,"
Mrs. Heidenrich says.
"I've found that if you show love, it comes right
back tenfold."
Mrs. Heidenrich's second great passion is
seniors. She visits nursing homes three times
every week, prepares and serves meals to the
residents and provides them with prizes
at game time and presents at Chanukah.
Though she herself does not drive, Mrs.
Heidenrich will arrange for rides for se-
niors.
Often, she brings her grandson, David,
along to help. When it was his birthday,
David insisted on using his own money to
buy something for the seniors. He told his
grandmother, "I want to treat them my-
self."
A graduate of Michigan State Universi-
ty, Mrs. Heidenrich makes time for the
Flint JewiSh Federation, too. She has been
active from the start in the annual Fed-
eration-sponsored Sen. Donald Riegle Jr.
Dinner to benefit Russian resettlement and
says simply, "They know at the Federation
they can call me whenever they need some-
thing."
"Bette is a mainstay of our Jewish corn-
munity, in her constant efforts to reach out
to people who need help, care, warmth and
cheer," said Rabbi Paul Tuchman of Temple Beth
El in Flint. "Her energy and enthusiasm in
tzedakah have endeared her to so many people
in Genessee County."
Yet Mrs. Heidenrich insists she is anything
but exceptional.
"I'm not unique," she says. "I just like to
help." El