Wet, But Wonderful
News From Royal Oak
Phonathon Winners
To See Billy Joel
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
he children who took part in
the Andy Sharkey Gallery's
sidewalk chalk art fund-rais-
er Sunday weren't about to
let a little torrential downpour put
a damper on their fun.
"It began raining about 10 min-
utes after we started, so the kids
did their work under awnings un-
til the storm passed," said Ms.
Sharkey, owner of the downtown
Royal Oak gallery.
`The children didn't care about
the rain. They had a blast. They
drew a lot of fish, mermaids and
suns," Ms. Sharkey said. "They
`chalked' the sidewalks on both
sides of Fifth between Washing-
ton and the railroad tracks and a Andy Sharkey
wall of Fifth Avenue Billiards.
passersby, about $160 was raised.
They also chalked each other and
"Pm sure the rain kept a few kids away
chalked their knees."
Ms. Sharkey estimates about 50 chil- because some who pre-registered didn't
dren ages 1-12 took part in the fund-rais- show up," Ms. Sharkey said.
Besides getting a chance to display
er for the Children's Immune Disorders
organization, which supports families of their art skills, the children enjoyed cook-
children with AIDS. Between the regis- ies, bagels and Snapple donated by area
tration fees and donations made by merchants.
es all about soul.
Allied Jewish Campaign callers
gave it their all, and, to reward their
efforts, the Jewish Federation of Met-
ropolitan Detroit is sending a dozen of
them to the Pontiac Silverdome Aug. 4 to
see the piano man him-
self, Billy Joel, along
with rocket man Elton
John.
The concert tickets
come as part of a prize
Federation awarded to
the team of Campaign
volunteers who racked
up the most points for
pledges secured during
the Days Of Decision phonathon held
June 5-9. Overall, the week added $1.2
million to Campaign coffers.
"The contest added a bit of pizzazz to
Days of Decision," said Michael Gilbert,
associate Campaign director. "It wasn't a
significant part of the week, but it added
a bit of zest."
The winning team was Hillel of
Metro Detroit (HMD) with 157 points.
Next in line was Suzanne Gilden-
berg's group with 63 points.
Points were not awarded according to
dollar amounts raised, but rather on the
basis of pledge types. Volunteers who gar-
nered gifts from new givers won three
points. Increases brought in two. A gift of
any kind was rewarded
with one point.
HMD council member
David Smith was noted
for his unsurpassed
achievement of 13 new
gifts. He and his HMD
teammates will receive
the concert tickets, pur-
chased with privately do-
nated monies in
Federation's sponsors fund.
Executive Director of HMD Miriam
Starkman says she is proud of her team's
performance.
"I'm thrilled that the students and
young adults were able to contribute to
such a worthwhile event," she said. "I
think the interests of HMD are best
served by a successful Campaign, and ob-
viously, the students felt so, too, based on
the effort they put forth.
T
I
JAC Remains Strong
In Michigan
Helping The Menorah Club
To Help Itself
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
uring a fund-raiser
for Rep. Sander
Levin, a political ac-
tion committee that
raises money for pro-Israel,
pro-choice candi-
dates gave the law-
maker its financial
backing in the form
of a $700 check.
"This is not su-
per-big bucks, but
this money is corn-
ing from all around
the country to sup-
port Sander Levin,"
said Doris Blech-
man, a Bloomfield
Hills resident and
member of JAC,
an acronym for
Joint Action Com-
mittee for Political
Affairs.
The PAC, based
in Highland Park,
Ill., was founded in
1980. A Michigan
JAC chapter was
active years ago,
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UJ
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LLJ
CC
LLJ
U.J
24
then faded out. It was re-
activated two years ago
and is slowly expanding in
the area.
"We're not a lobbyist or-
ganization," Ms. Blechman
said. 'We work to keep pro-
Israel, pro-choice lawmak-
ers in office."
Since its reemergence lo-
cally, JAC has
brought in speak-
ers including Rep.
Nita Lowe, a Jew-
ish member of Con-
gress from New
York, and Frank
Lautenberg, a Jew-
ish senator from
New Jersey.
More recently,
the PAC co-spon-
sored its first fo-
rum, featuring U.S.
Senate candidates.
Members are in
the process of plan-
ning a membership
program in the fall
and hope to add to
their current roster
of about 70. JAC's
national member-
ship hovers around
3,000.
JCIC
JOINT ACTION
COMMITTEE FOR
POLITICAL
AFFAIRS
lien Olender knows
a good idea when he
reads it.
Several months
ago, the vice president of
investments with Pruden-
tial Securities in West
Bloomfield saw a notice in
The Jewish News about a
group of Sarajevo Jews
who had started a
yarmulke business.
The 20 refugees called
their business the Meno-
rah Club, and they
were selling their hand-
made goods for about $6
each.
Mr. Olender, a member
of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, immediately wrote
to the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Com-
mittee, which helped orga-
nize the Menorah Club, to
find out how to order some
of the kippot. He ended up
buying more than 100 (to
give as gifts to his clients
on Rosh Hashanah) — and
A
would have bought more, Split, on the coast of the
but the Menorah Club was Adriatic Sea, he said.
To date, the JDC has
selling out.
"I read about people like rescued 2,104 persons from
this — who say, 'Give us Sarajevo.
something to
do and we'll
take care of
ourselves' —
it's just won-
derful," he
said. "We need
more people
like that."
Mr. Olen-
der also has
been in close
contact with
the JDC re-
garding the
status of the
Menorah
Club. Many of
its "members"
live in tempo-
rary housing
in Makarska,
Croatia, a
small suburb
of the town of Allen Olender